GIFT   OF 
Prof.   Ira  B. Cross 


THE- PROGRESS 


AND 


tospetts  0f  llmentH ; 


OB, 


THE  MODEL  REPUBLIC,  ITS  GLORY,  OR  ITS  FALL 

WITH   A    REVIEW   OF 

Causes  of  %  Decline  anfo  Jfailm 


THE    REPUBLICS   OF   SOUTH   AMERICA,   MEXICO, 
AND  OF  THE  OLD  WORLD; 


APPLIED   TO 


THE  PRESENT  CRISIS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


"  Shall  we,  upon  the  footing  of  our  land, 
Send  fair-play  orders,  und  make  compromise. 
Insinuation,  parley,  and  base  truce. 
To  arms  invasive?" 


NEW    EDITION. 


NEW   YORK: 
EDWARD   WALKER,   114    FULTON-STREET. 


THIS     VOLUME     IS     INSCRIBED    TO 
ALL 

WHO     LOVE     AMERICAN     INSTITUTIONS, 

A.ND     DESIRE     TO     SEE    THEM    PERPETUATED 

tfje 


DESCEND     IX    THEIR    PURITY    TO     FUTURE     GENERATIONS 


447786 


"  Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said — 

This  is  my  own,  my  native  land?" 

SCOTT. 


"  Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity, 
religion  and  morality  aro  indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that 
man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism,  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these 
great  pillars  of  human  happiness — these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of 
men  and  citi/ens."  WASHINGTON. 


PUBLISHER'S    PREFACE. 


FOE  some  time  past,  the  publisher  of  this  work  has  enter 
tained  the  idea  of  presenting  to  the  citizens  of  the  Union,  a 
volume  devoted  to  national  interests.  Maturing  his  plans, 
he  laid  them  before  a  number  of  friends — gentlemen  dis 
tinguished  alike  for  their  patriotism,  social  standing,  and 
wide-spread  reputation — and  they  were  cordially  endorsed 
as  the  promise,  if  carried  out,  of  supplying  a  book  really 
needed  at  this  present  crisis. 

The  gentlemen  selected  to  write  the  various  chapters, 
were  chosen  with  reference  to  their  ability  to  treat  upon  the 
subjects  committed  to  their  especial  charge ;  and  the  pub 
lisher  indulges  the  belief  that  their  labor,  careful  research 
and  investigation,  joined  with  their  conscientious  desire  to 
accomplish  a  work  of  so  momentous  interest,  will  be  appre 
ciated  by  every  patriotic  and  reflective  mind. 
*  The  subjects  treated  of  concern  not  only  the  statesman 
and  politician,  but  every  American  citizen,  however  hum 
ble  or  exalted — whether  native  or  naturalized.  They  ex 
tend  over  a  vast  range  of  valuable  facts  and  historical  illus- 


6  PUBLISHERS   PREFACE. 

trations  pertaining  to  the  rights  and  immunities  of  citizens 
under  a  republican  government.  The  present  anomalous 
state  of  political  parties  throughout  the  country  suggests 
a  reason  for  the  appearance  of  the  work ;  and  in  the 
endeavor  to  meet  this  exigency  it  has  been  carefully  pre 
pared. 

As  a  nation,  we  are  essentially  eclectic  in  character, 
receiving  constant  accession  to  our  numbers  from  all  parts 
of  the  civilized  globe.  It  is,  therefore,  of  the  first  import 
ance  to  the  integrity  and  security  of  our  free  institutions, 
that  the  balance  of  power  in  the  republic  should  be  sedu 
lously  guarded ;  that  a  spirit  of  nationality  should  rule  in 
the  councils  of  our  government ;  and  that  the  element  of 
foreign  political  faith,  as  well  as  foreign  manners  and  cus 
toms,  be  carefully  precluded  from  vitiating  our  national 
morals, — the  proud  distinction  of  a  free  people  consisting 
in  its  public  virtue,  which  is  the  animating  and  sustaining 
principle  of  true  democracy.  It  is  not  enough  that  we 
glory  in  our  boasted  liberties,' — -we  must  be  jealous  of  their 
integrity — must  learn  wherein  consists  their  security,  their 
defences,  and  their  danger. 

It  was  a  maxim  of  one  of  the  "  early  heroes  of  liberty," 
that  "  none  could  love  freedom  heartily  but  good  men ;  the 
rest  love  not  freedom  but  license,  which  never  hath  more 
indulgence  than  under  tyrants."  This  fact  is  amply  sus 
tained  by  the  testimony  of  all  history.  The  knowledge 
which  we  acquire  at  our  own  expense  is  undoubtedly  the 


PUBLISHER'S  PREFACE.  7 

most  efficacious,  but  that  which  we  learn  from  the  misfor 
tunes  of  others  is  the  safest,  inasmuch  as  we  receive  instruc 
tion  without  pain  or  danger  to  ourselves. 

The  "Yoice  to  America"  is  not  the  product  of  any 
clique ;  it  enforces  the  opinions  of  no  one  party ;  it  has 
not  been  prepared  under  the  auspices,  nor  has  it  received 
the  sanction,  of  any  set  of  men  organized  for  political 
purposes ;  but  the  publisher  has  been  cheered  on  in  his 
purpose,  in  the  confident  assurance  that,  notwithstanding 
sectiona  Ifeeling,  and  the  specious  pretences  of  fanaticism 
and  political  partisanship,  there  is  yet  a  sufficient  number  of 
true-hearted  Americans,  pledged  for  the  defence  and  pres 
ervation  of  the  inestimable  privileges  conferred  upon  our 
common  country,  under  the  segis  of  a  glorious  constitution. 
The  book,  therefore,  goes  forth  to  the  world,  claiming  only 
the  deference  due  to  honestly-expressed  opinions.  It  relies 
alone,  for  success,  on  the  truth  of  its  arguments,  and  the 
sacredness  of  its  mission. 

NEW  YOEK,  August,  1855. 


CONTENTS. 


PREFACE 5 

THE  UNITED  STATES — RETROSPECTIVE  AND  PROSPECTIVE 13 

THE  ANCIENT  REPUBLICS — EARLY  CIVILIZATION 27 

SPARTA  AND  ATHENS 35 

THE  FALL  OF  ROME 53 

ITALIAN  LIBERTY  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES 73 

THE  ANGLO-SAXON  RACE  AND  FREEDOM 83 

HEROES  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  OF  LIBERTY 97 

THE  BOUNDARIES  OF  COUNTRIES,  HOW  ESTABLISHED 133 

ROMANISM  AND  FREEDOM 141 

EFFECTS  OF  ROMANISM  AND  PROTESTANTISM  ON  CIVILIZATION 149 

THE  RIGHTS  OF  CONSCIENCE 167 

RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION 179 

THE  BIBLE  THE  CHARTER  OF  LIBERTY 191 

PRINCIPLES  AND  PERILS  OF  OUR  COMMON  EDUCATION 201 

THE  POLITICAL  POWER  OF  THE  POPE 215 

EVILS  OF  MILITARY  ORGANIZATIONS  EXCLUSIVELY  OF  FOREIGNERS 229 

DEMORALIZING  INFLUENCE  OF  DEMAGOGISM  , 237 

WHAT  CONSTITUTES  THE  RIGHT  TO  VOTE  ? 245 

.  FALLACY  OF  SUPPOSING  AMERICAN  INSTITUTIONS  NEED  NO  SAFEGUARDS  ...  261 

NATURALIZATION    LAWS    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES 273 

UNITED  STATES  AND  IMMIGRATION 283 

THE  CITIZEN  OF  A  REPUBLIC 291 

AMERICAN  NATIONALITY.  .  .  299 


10  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

NECESSITY  OF  AMERICAN  HABITS  AND  PRINCIPLES 315 

RIGHT  OF  THE  MAJORITY  TO  RULE 323 

FREEDOM  FROM  FOREIGN  INFLUENCE 329 

ORIGIN  OF  POLITICAL  POWER 337 

MEXICO  AND  THE  SOUTH  AMERICAN  REPUBLICS 3-45 

AMERICA  THE  THEATRE  OF  THE  GREAT  DEMONSTRATION 355 

SECRET  SOCIETIES,  THEIR  USE  AND  ABUSE 3G3 

THE  AMERICAN  REPUBLIC,  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  WORLD 373 

/ 

APPENDIX. 

I.— Secret  Societies  and  Oaths, 3S1 

II.— Eelations  of  the  Pope  to  the  Civil  Power, 385 

III. — Foreigners  and  the  Elective  Franchise, 3S8 

IY. — Religious  Toleration — Heretics  and  Eomanist  Graveyards, 391 

V.— Military  in  the  Church, 392 

VI.— American  Nationality, 393 

VII. — American  Elections, 395 

VIII.— What  causes  Election  Riots 395 

IX.— Golden  Maxims  of  Washington, 397 

X. — Maxims  and  Opinions  of  Eminent  Statesmen,  etc., 399 


YOICE  TO  AMERICA. 


THE  TJHITED  STATES -RETROSPECTIVE  AM) 

PROSPECTIVE 

A 

"With  America,  and  in  America,  a  new  era  commences  in  human  affairs.  This  era  is  distin 
guished  by  free  representative  governments,  by  entire  religions  liberty,  by  improved  systems  oi 
national  intercourse,  by  a  newly-awakened  and  unconquerable  spirit  of  free  inquiry,  and  by  a  diffu 
sion  of  knowledge  through  the  community,  before  altogether  unknown  and  unheard  of." 

DAMEL  WEBSTER. 

WHEN  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  Thirteen  Colonies  arose  against 
the  despotic  and  mercenary  aggression  of  England,  they  were  three 
millions  of  people,  mostly  scattered  farmers.  They  inhabited  a  strip 
of  the  Atlantic  seashore — a  half-wild  territory  between  the  Allegha- 
nies  and  the  ocean — about  one  thousand  miles  long,  and  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  wide,  and  containing  only  six  towns  of  any  size,  three 
of  which  had  less  than  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  and  none  over  twen 
ty  thousand.  It  is  true  that  they  were  an  enterprising,  industrious, 
honest,  intelligent  community — a  happy  and  flourishing  nation  in 
fact,  though  not  in  form.  But  whatever  were  the  precise  point  of 
prosperity  to  which  they  had  then  attained,  it  was  in  spite  of  the 
discouragements  of  their  supreme  government  that  they  attained  it ; 
for  the  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce  of  the  colonies  were 
capriciously  controlled  and  restricted  for  the  advantage  of  English 
speculators;  and  the  laws  and  constitutions  of  the  little  republics 
were  constantly  attacked  and  insulted  by  the  placemen  of  the  English 
administration,  for  the  sake  of  enforcing  arbitrary  schemes  of  govern- 


13  A   VOICE. TO   AMERICA. 

ment,  fit  only  for  tributary  slaves.  Navigation  acts,  stamp  acts^  writs 
of  assistance,  prohibitions  of  the  manufacture  of  iron,  the  manufacture 
of  cloths,  of  hats,  of  every  thing  which  Englishmen  wanted  to  manu 
facture,  and  endless  other  troublesome  and  unrighteous  enactments, 
perplexed  and  annoyed  the  provinces.  Yet  the  new  nation,  which, 
under  the  name  of  the  United  States  of  America,  spoke  itself  into 
being  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  contained  all  the  elements 
of  a  healthy,  powerful,  and  vigorous  life. 

"With,  the  fervent  sympathy  of  the  majority  of  the  people,  but  with 
lukewarm  aid  or  timid  indifference  from,  very  many;  with  over 
whelming  fears  and  doubts  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  wisest  and  best 
men  of  the  day,  and  even  in  spite  of  the  venomous  treasons  and  in 
testine  Avars  of  the  Tory  population,  the  new  commonwealth  agonized 
through  the  seven  years  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  fainting  and 
almost  torn  in  pieces,  and  achieved  what  seemed  at  the  moment  to  be 
a  fruitless  independence. 

At  the  end  of  that  war  it  was  indeed  a  nation  in  name,  and  one  in 
form ;  but  it  had  little  of  actual  national  life.  It  was  repeatedly  on 
the  extreme  verge  of  falling  into  fragments — into  anarchy ;  of  return 
ing  to  a  monarchical  form  of  government.  One  hundred  and  seven 
ty  millions  of  dollars  in  money  had  been  actually  spent  in  the  war, 
and  that  when  money  was  worth  nearly  twice  as  much  as  it  is  now, 
and  when  the  nation  was  not  one-twentieth  as  rich  as  at  present.  The 
country  had  been  ravaged  through  and  through :  crops  had  been  de 
stroyed,  towns  and  houses  burned.  The  inhabitants  were  sick,  dis 
abled,  demoralized,  fled ;  manufactures  had  been  encouraged  but  lit- 
tie ;  commerce  was  stagnant,  or  even  utterly  dead ;  disbanded  and  im 
moral  soldiers  roamed  up  and  down,  unable  to  obtain  work,  or  to  get 
their  wages,  even  in  the  good-for-nothing  continental  money,  which 
was  worth  sometimes  three  cents  on  the  dollar,  sometimes  nothing, 
and  of  which  one  hundred  dollars  were  once  given  for  a  mug  of  cider. 
The  central  government  was  everywhere  despised  and  abused — a  beg 
garly,  strengthless  shadow.  It  labored  under  an  immense  home  and 
foreign  debt,  which  it  could  not  pay ;  it  was  an  importunate  and  un- 


UNITED   STATES — KETRUSFEUTIYE    A3D    PROSPECTIVE,      lo 

welcome  beggar  for  home  and  foreign  loans, — unsuccessfully,  because 
it  could  not  meet  its  former  engagements ;  its  requisitions  upon  the 
States  were  neglected  or  refused ;  it  was  even  bullied  in  its  own  hall 
by  a  sergeant's  squad  of  unpaid  mutineers  dunning  for  their  wages, 
against  whom  the  militia  of  Philadelphia  declined  to  protect  it,  except 
in  case  of  actual  assault  and  battery. 

The  States  quarrelled  with  each  other  about  lands,  or  insulted  and 
encroached  on  the  miserable  central  government.  There  arose  in 
many  of  them,  within  a  few  years  after  the  termination  of  the  war, 
home  insurrections  of  their  own.  The  whisky  insurrection  in  Penn 
sylvania  ;  Shays'  insurrection  in  Massachusetts,  with  the  risings  that 
preceded  it ;  a  similar  mob  in  New  Hampshire,  which,  for  a  time,  be 
sieged  the  legislature  and  courts  of  that  State ;  the  general  disorgani 
zation  of  the  western  country,  and  other  such  tumults,  showed  the 
unsettled  and  anarchic  condition  of  men's  minds,  as  well  as  their 
poverty  and  distress.  Wise  men,  the  revolutionary  fathers  of  the 
country,  communicated  to  each  other  their  apprehensions  of  the  loss 
of  our  nationality,  almost  at  its  birth.  Despondency  weighed  upon 
the  best  of  the  patriots  of  the  day,  and  with  painful  forebodings  they 
speculated  upon  the  probabilities  of  many  republics — of  a  monarchy 
— of  a  retreat  beneath  the  English  power. 

The  native  sense  of  the  country,  however,  was  at  last  aroused  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  case,  and  the  people,  responding  to  the  call  that 
emanated  from  the  Virginia  Legislature,  deputed  that  great  and  wise 
assembly  which  created  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — a 
frame  of  government  the  nearest  perfection  which  the  world  has  ever 
seen ;  by  the  operation  of  which  the  nation  was  at  once  invigorated ; 
under  which  it  forthwith  sprang  out  into  that  unparalleled  career  of 
growth,  whose  constantly  increasing  speed  has  already  made  all  the 
world  astonished  spectators,  and  which  seems  to  possess  an  immortal 
vigor  equal  to  any  emergency. 

Within  less  than  three-quarters  of  a  century  of  national  life  under 
this  constitution,  the  United  States  of  America  have  arisen  to  a  prouder 
height  of  physical  strength  and  of  moral  power,  than  has  ever  been 


14  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

occupied  by  any  other  nation  in  the  world.  The  allotted  life  of  a  man 
covers  a  period  equal  to  the  whole  existence  of  our  mighty  empire. 
Men  are  this  day  alive  and  well  who  voted  for  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution,  and  for  Washington  in  1789.  At  the  end  of  the  Revo 
lutionary  War,  we  numbered  about  three  millions  of  people  —  as 
many  as  now  inhabit  the  single  State  of  New  York ;  now  we  are 
twenty-five  millions.  Then  we  had  nine  hundred  thousand  square 
miles  of  territory ;  now  we  have  three  millions  of  square  miles — 
half  of  North  America  —  three  times  as  much  as  France,  Great 
Britain,  Ireland,  Austria,  Prussia,  Spain,  Portugal,  Belgium,  Hol 
land,  and  Denmark — a  domain  as  large  as  the  Roman  Empire  ever 
was ;  a  territory  by  the  side  of  which  the  possessions  of  the  proud 
est  European  dynasties  are  "  but  a  patch  on  the  earth's  surface."* 
European  distances  are  steps  to  ours ;  European  rivers  are  brooks. 
It  is  as  far  across  the  United  States  from  New  York  to  San  Fran 
cisco  as  from  London  to  Ispahan,  in  Persia ;  from  New  York  to 
New  Orleans  is  as  far  as  from  Paris  to  St.  Petersburg,  or  from  Lon 
don  to  Constantinople.  The  Mississippi  is  twice  as  long  as  the  Dan 
ube  ;  the  Ohio  is  six  hundred  miles  longer  than  the  Rhine ;  the 

'  O  / 

Hudson  is  navigated,  within  the  State  of  New  York,  a  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  —  a  distance  greater  than  the  length  of  the  Thames. 
Nor  is  this  vast  expanse  in  danger  of  falling  apart  by  its  own 
weight :  it  is  knit  the  tighter  as  it  expands,  by  the  iron  bands  of 
the  railroad  and  the  telegraph.  Our  country  extends  through  every 
healthy  climate.  Avoiding  the  inhospitable  wastes  of  the  Arctic 
snow,  and  the  fever-haunted  jungles  of  the  tropic  zone,  it  stretches 
from  the  cold  and  bracing  mountain  air  of  New  England  and  Oregon, 
to  the  everlasting  spring  of  the  sunny  South.  Within  our  limits  is 
found  every  tree  of  the  forest,  from  the  towering  pines  of  Maine,  and 
the  more  gigantic  cedars  of  California,  four  hundred  feet  high ;  the 
northern  oak,  the  birch,  the  beech,  and  the  other  hardy  woods  of  its 
kindred  forests,  to  the  live-oak  of  the  south,  the  cypress,  and  the  mag 
nolia,  the  orange,  the  cocoanut,  the  banana,  and  the  palm.  We 
*  Webster's  Letter  to  Hulsemann. 


UNITED   STATES — RETROSPECTIVE   AN1)    PROSPECTIVE.      15 

grow  alike  the  corn,  flax,  and  wheat  of  temperate  regions,  and  the 
sugar  and  cotton,  the  rice  and  indigo  of  the  south.  From  the  bosom 
of  the  earth  we  dig  all  the  precious  and  all  the  useful  minerals :  gold 
comes  from  California  at  the  rate  of  sevrenty-five  millions  of  dollars  a 
year ;  pure  copper  is  blasted  or  chopped  out  from  the  mines  at  Lake 
Superior  by  the  ton  together.  There  is  lead  enough  in  Wisconsin  to 
supply  the  world ;  iron  is  piled  into  mountains  in  Missouri,  and  its 
ores  are  found  in  the  majority  of  the  States ;  and  the  coal  of  single 
States — Ohio  and  Pennsylvania — is  sufficient  to  furnish  all  the  earth 
with  fuel  for  thousands  of  years. 

Nor  are  our  treasures  inaccessible.  There  is  only  one  of  the  great 
divisions  of  the  earth — Europe — which  has  a  greater  proportion  of 
seacoast  to  the  square  mile  than  North  America.  The  shore-line  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  two  great  oceans  and  the  Mexican  Gulf,  is 
eighteen  thousand  miles.  The  land  is  pierced  through  and  through 
with  enormous  rivers,  upon  which  we  possess  forty-nine  thousand 
miles  of  steamboat  navigation,  together  with  thirty-five  hundred 
miles  of  shore  on  the  sides  of  the  great  northern  lakes.  Five  thou 
sand  miles  of  supplementary  artificial  navigation  by  canals  com 
pletes  this  most  enormous  amount  of  internal  water  conveyance. 
Within  the  single  State  of  New  York  there  are  three  thousand  miles 
of  navigable  inland  waters.  Besides  the  innumerable  ordinary  roads, 
we  are  netted  and  woven  together  by  twenty  thousand  miles  of  com 
pleted  railroads,  and  thirteen  thousand  miles  more,  now  in  process  of 
completion.  Upon  these  inland  routes  a  capital  of  one  thousand  mill 
ions  of  dollars  is  invested  in  the  gigantic  transfers  of  our  internal  trade 
and  travel. 

We  have  not  been  idle  in  improving  the  advantages  of  our  situa 
tion.  Our  wealth  and  industry — our  credit  and  commerce,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  have  enlarged  to  an  immeasurable  extent.  At 
the  close  of  the  Revolution  we  had  possibly  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  real  and  personal  estate ;  now  we  have 
at  least  fifteen  thousand  millions  of  dollars'  worth,  besides  fourteen 
hundred  millions  of  acres  of  public  lands — enough  to  give  a  large 


l.£  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

farm  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  nation.  Then,  our  am 
bassadors  were  besieging  European  capitalists  and  governments  for  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars ;  now,  the  nation  distributes  at  cnce  forty 
millions  of  surplus  revenue  ;  bears  four  hundred  millions  of  debt  with 
out  feeling  it,  and  sells  the  privilege  of  lending  to  her  at  six  and  ten 
cents  for  every  dollar  that  she  will  condescend  to  borrow.  Then,  we 
had  no  manufactures ;  now,  we  have  more  than  five  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  invested  in  manufactories,  whose  annual  productions  arc 
worth  more  than  a  thousand  millions  of  dollars.  Our  cotton  manu 
factories  alone,  while  the  English  millmen  confess  that  the  business  in 
Great  Britain  has  reached  its  very  utmost  capacity  of  development, 
are  now  employing  eighty  millions  of  capital,  arc  using  thirty-five 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  a  year  of  raw  material,  and  turning  out  a 
yearly  product  worth  seventy  millions  of  dollars,  and  yet  are  stead 
ily  increasing,  while  we  compete  with  our  English  rivals  in  our  own 
market,  and  all  over  the  world.  Then,  we  had  neither  commerce 
nor  shipping ;  now,  it  is  not  long  since  we  dismantled  a  national  war 
ship  to  send  her,  laden  with  the  superabundance  of  our  rich  fields,  to 
stay  the  famine  in  Ireland.  Of  the  same  overflowing  plenty  we  have 
imparted  to  the  starving  people  of  Greece,  of  Madeira,  of  the  Azores. 
Our  cotton  crop,  besides  supplying  the  immense  home  demand  just 
stated,  is  sent  across  the  sea  at  the  rate  of  eleven  hundred  millions  of 
pounds  a  year,  and,  after  being  manufactured,  supplies  the  primary 
human  necessity  of  clothing  to  all  nations,  from  the  tropic  to  the  pole, 
from  the  Englishman  to  the  Chinese. 

The  extent  of  the  shore  line  of  the  United  States,  on  the  Atlantic, 
Pacific,  and  the  Mexican  Gulf,  is  about  twelve  thousand  miles.  The 
northern  and  southern  boundaries  amount  to  at  least  six  thousand 
more ;  making,  in  all,  eighteen  thousand  miles — equal  to  three  quar 
ters  of  the  distance  around  the  world. 

Now  we  have  the  largest  mercantile  marine  on  earth.  Fourteen 
hundred  steamers,  measuring  five  hundred  thousand  tons,  and  seven 
teen  thousand  sail  vessels,  registering  four  and  a  half  millions  of 
tons  burden,  besides  carrying  a  portion  of  our  enormous  mass  of  inter- 


UNITED    STATES—  KETROSPECTIVE   AXD   PROSPECTIVE.      17 


rial  exchanges,  are  bringing  yearly  from  abroad  three  hundred  mill 
ions  of  tons  of  foreign,  and  carrying  away  two  hundred  and  eightj 
millions  of  domestic  merchandise. 

These  vast  totals,  indicating  such  limitless  resources  and  sucli 
superhuman  energy,  and  demonstrating  only  the  aggregate  of  th« 
resources  in  territory  and  riches  wielded  by  our  population,  consti 
tuting  the  greatest  force  on  earth,  yet  only  refer  to  physical  power, 
and  do  not  by  any  means  give  a  comprehensive  view  even  of  that 
power.*  However  important  our  pecuniary  wealth  and  material 
power  at  this  present  moment  may  be,  as  securing  to  us  a  high 
station  and  commanding  influence  in  the  great  commonwealth  of 
nations,  there  are  other  departments  in  our  national  life,  of  profoundly 
greater  significance.  The  state  of  our  intellectual,  social,  and  moral 
development,  after  all,  is  of  infinitely  more  importance  than  our  prop 
erty  per  head,  or  our  annual  revenue.  These  mere  acquisitions  may 
easily  depreciate  in  value.  Our  vast  mass  of  wealth  naturally  tends, 
of  itself,  to  be  scattered  and  lost.  It  is  the  mind  and  the  soul  which 
inform  and  impel  the  people  of  our  country,  which  constitute  their 
real  character,  which  alone  can  determine  their  lasting  prosperity, 
even  in  respect  to  dollars  and  cents,  and  which  certainly  are  the  only 
basis  upon  which  can  be  raised  or  maintained  a  collective  or  individ 
ual  character  which  can  justify  our  national  pride,  or  command  the 
respect  of  strangers. 

Our  condition  in  these  respects  —  the  intelligence  and  morality  of 
our  native  population  ;  the  social  condition  of  the  nation  —  is  such  as 
to  inspire  every  patriotic  heart  with  an  exultation  infinitely  loftier  and 
purer  than  any  boasts  of  riches  or  displays  of  strength.  The  right 
training  of  our  citizens  for  their  duties  to  God  and  the  State,  has  ever 
been  a  principal  object  of  our  government.  It  is^true  that  the  main 
regulation  of  this  subject,  and  the  direction  of  the  chief  expenditure 

*  The  statistics  of  the  machinery  employed  in  manufacturing  —  a  very  import 
ant  and  significant  item—  although  actually  collected,  are  kept  strangely  concealed 
in  the  Census  Office  ;  nor  is  there  any  adequate  estimate,  yet  compiled,  of  the  total 
machinery  of  all  kinds  owned  and  used  in  the  United  States.  " 


18  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

for  it,  rests  in  the  States  individually ;  yet  the  Federal  Government 
alone,  doing  what  it  could  constitutionally  do,  has  given  outright,  for 
educational  purposes,  fifty-three  millions  of  acres  of  land,  which,  even 
at  the  minimum  Government  price,  are  worth  nearly  seventy  millions 
of  dollars.  Of  public  funds  alone,  besides  the  much  greater  amount 
paid  by  individuals,  there  are  paid  for  education  annually,  in  the 
United  States,  at  least  seven  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars.  There  is 
no  child  so  poor  or  vile  as  to  be  excluded  from  a  good  school  educa 
tion  ;  and  if  any  children  miss  it,  the  fault  is  that  of  their  parents  or 
themselves.  In  our  schools  are  taught,  not  only  the  rudiments  of 
literature,  but  pure  morals,  and  the  elements  of  a  just  and  manly  char 
acter.  Entire  freedom  in  true  and  right  thought  is  encouraged; 
and  the  result  of  our  school  systems,  which  are  confessedly  the  best 
extant,  is  such  as  fully  to  uphold  their  claim  to  superiority.  In  those 
parts  of  the  country  where  they  have  reached  their  completest  devel 
opment,  only  one  native  in  four  hundred  is  unable  to  read  or  write. 
In  the  far  northern  State  of  Maine,  there  are  more  children  at  school, 
in  proportion  to  the  population,  than  in  any  other  state,  kingdom, 
or  country  whatever.  In  the  whole  United  States,  the  proportion 
of  school-going  youth  is  only  exceeded  by  that  in  Denmark,  where 
attendance  is  enforced  by  law. 

The  tone  of  our  national  life  throughout  is  such  as  to  maintain  the 
intelligent  independence  and  self-controlling  activity,  which  our  citi 
zens  learn  in  their  childhood.  No  policeman,  or  spy,  or  uniformed 
soldier  prohibits  our  people  from  discussing  the  measures  of  govern 
ment.  We  are  not  holden  by  force  to  follow  the  commands  of  hered 
itary  despots.  We  consider  and  inquire  to  our  heart's  content  what 
we  would  have  the  government  do,  and  then  vigilantly  wa'ich  its  exe 
cution.  No  such  broad  political  freedom  was  ever  heard  of  before, 
either  in  Greece  or  Koine,  in  Switzerland  or  England.  The  diffusion 
of  current  information,  and  of  intercourse  among  our  citizens,  has  in 
creased  to  a  corresponding  extent.  The  fecundity  and  ability  of  our 
newrspaper  press  is  without  parallel.  The  best  and  brightest  talent  of 
the  day  is  increasingly  employed  in  this  business.  In  1775,  there  were 


UNITED   STATES — RETROSPECTIVE   AND   PROSPECTIVE.     19 

thirty-five  newspapers  in  the  whole  country.  That  number  is  now 
more  than  equalled  in  each  of  four  single  towns,  and  in  two  of  them 
it  is  tripled.  In  the  whole  country  there  are  twenty-two  'hundred 
newspapers,  circulating  a  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  copies  annually ; 
and  of  periodicals  of  all  kinds,  more  than  twenty-seven  hundred,  cir 
culating  nearly  four  hundred  and  thirty  millions  of  copies  a  year.  A 
single  American  monthly  circulates  more  copies  than  all  the  magazines 
of  ftreat  Britain  together.  Our  Post-office  Department,  which,  upon 
its  re-establishment  after  the  Revolution,  enumerated  about  seventy- 
five  post-offices,  along  a  few  coast-routes  of  some  two  thousand  miles, 
upon  which  it  was  thought  remarkable  that  the  mail  came  through 
from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  in  three  days,  now  numbers  twenty- 
five  thousand  post-offices,  and  sends  its  mail-bags  over  two  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  miles  of  roads.  Seventy  years  since,  steamboat 
speed  was  impossible ;  and  railroads  were  not  even  conceived  of  in 
dreams.  Now  our  letters  hurry  along  the  water,  in  steamboats,  at 
twenty  miles  an  hour,  and  fly  across  the  land,  by  railroad,  at  fifty 
miles  an  hour.  But  that  is  not  enough  for  our  restless  people.  It 
will  not  do  to  wait  for  time,  or  to  measure  space.  So  forty-two 
thousand  miles  of  telegraph  bring  Maine  and  Louisiana — New  York 
and  St.  Louis,  within  moments  of  each  other,  for  the  merchants  who 
cannot  let  their  messages  lag  along  on  lightning  trains.  Nay,  the 
intervening  space  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  to  be  annihilated.  The 
wires  are  now  being  prepared  for  the  ocean  line,  between  Newfound 
land  and  Ireland ;  and  the  unreasonable  philosopher,  Faraday,  not- 
content  that  messages  will  be  delivered  in  New  York  three  hours 
before  they  are  dispatched  at  Liverpool,  is  grumbling  in  England 
because  there  is  to  be  an  actual  delay  of  two  minutes. 

The  same  keen  and  disciplined,  but  tremendous  energy  which  has 
driven  us  so  swiftly  onward  in  our  career  of  material  prosperity,  and 
which  is  yet  surging  hither  and  thither  across  the  continent  in  accu 
mulating  waves,  has  operated  alike  in  all  departments  of  human 
action.  Not  only  have  we  excelled  in  the  mere  organization  of 
human  industry  and  the  gathering  of  riches,  but  Americans  have 


20  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

stood  pre-eminent  in  every  domain  of  original  thought,  in  every 
sphere  of  labor,  physical  or  mental.  It  would  be  too  long  a  story 
to  enumerate  the  daring  of  our  exploring  seamen ;  the  exhaustless 
fertility  and  practical  adapteduess  of  our  myriads  of  inventors ;  the 
triumphs  of  our  mechanics,  who  have  surpassed  the  world  in  making 
whatever  can  be  made,  that  requires  beauty,  strength,  or  skilful  hand 
ling.  Their  enormous  clippers  dash  through  the  billows  of  every 
sea,  and  their  engineers  go  abroad  to  construct  monster  railroad*  for 
foreign  powers.  Their  brass  clocks  tick  within  the  households  of 
every  nation,  from  England  to  China ;  their  pistols  are  arming  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  all  civilized  troops. 

In  science  and  literature,  even  more  than  in  such  conquests  over 
the  material  world,  has  our  career  been  rapid  and  our  attainment 
glorious.  In  all  those  departments  of  literary  labor  which  are  related 
to  the  present  needs  and  future  progress  of  humanity — in  theology, 
ethics,  law,  politics,  political  economy,  education,  natural  sciences, 
history,  romance,  poetry — we  are  at  least  fully  abreast  of  the  very 
foremost. 

Even  in  the  fine  arts,  hitherto  always  the  latest  blossom  of  civiliza 
tions  which  have  been  refining  for  centuries,  we  have  risen  up  sud 
denly  to  the  highest  position.  Our  sculptors  and  painters  are  rivalling 
the  modern  masters  of  artistic  Italy,  amidst  the  very  shrines  of  the 
muses,  and  the  homes  of  the  arts. 

In  all  the  realms  of  thought,  both  elegant  and  profound,  we  have 
quietly  surprised  the  elder  nations  out  of  supercilious  contempt  and 
thorough  ignorance,  into  admiring  acknowledgment.  A  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  the  assumption  was  coolly  and  currently  made  through 
out  Great  Britain,  that  English  writers  wrere  sure  of  the  monopoly  of 
the  American  market  for  an  indefinite  period.  Since  English  authors 
were  good  enough,  why  should  we  meddle  with  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  as 
long  as  wo  could  be  busy  in  raising  raw  material  to  support  the  man 
ufacturing  monopolies  of  Manchester  and  Leeds  ?  It  was  taken  for 
.granted  that  wo  could  not  write  either  prose  or  poetry  worth  reading. 

"  We  have  changed  all  that."    The  works  of  Story  and  Kent,  and 


UNITED   STATES — RETROSPECTIVE   AXJ)   PROSPECTIVE.     21 

in  general  our  Reports  of  Decisions  in  Law,  Equity,  and  Admiralty, 
are  authority  in  English  courts.  Dwight  and  Edwards  in  Theology, 
Prescott  and  Bancroft  in  History,  Sparks  and  Irving  in  Biography, 
are  text-books  on  both  sides  the  Atlantic.  Within  the  last  twenty 
years,  more  than  one  thousand  editions  of  American  books  have  been 
published  in  England,  numbering  at  least  six  millions  of  copies,  and 
six  and  a  half  millions  of  volumes.  Single  American  books  have  cir 
culated  outside  of  the  United  States,  in  ten  and  twelve  languages,  in 
fifteen  and  twenty  and  twenty-five  successive  editions,  to  the  amount 
of  half  a  million,  a  million,  and  a  million  and  a  half  of  copies. 

"  Who  reads  an  American  book  ?"  jeered  Sydney  Smith,  a  quarter 
of  a  centuiy  ago  in  the  Edinburgh  Review.  The  question  of  the 
clerical  satirist  must  now  be,  to  have  any  force — Who  does  not  read 
American  books  ? 

Such  statistics  tell  a  proud  story  for  our  country.  But  it  is  not 
merely  in  science,  philosophy,  or  elegant  literature,  that  American 
thought  is  moulding  the  opinions  of  the  world.  Ever  since  the  pub 
lication  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  our  statesmen  have  been 
confessedly,  for  breadth  and  depth  of  thought,  and  for  power  of  reason 
ing,  the  ablest  of  the  age.  WTere  there  three  such  men  outside  of  the 
United  States  as  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  and  John  C.  Calhoun  ? 
Our  public  policy  has  put  us  at  the  head  of  the  world's  progress  in 
international  law.  We  have  taken  the  lead  in  asserting  a  righteous 
equality  among  the  great  commonwealth  of  nations.  We  compelled 
England  to  discontinue  kidnapping  sailors  by  her  piratical  system  of 
impressment ;  we  first  stipulated  by  treaty  not  to  allow  of  privateering 
in  time  of  war ;  we  have  successfully  asserted  the  principle  that  free 
ships  make  free  goods..  Austria,  at  the  imperative  demand  of  our 
Executive,  sulkily  releases  American  citizens,  imprisoned  on  suspicion. 
We  first  are  moving  to  destroy  the  stingy  monopoly,  held  by  Denmark, 
of  the  entrance  into  the  Baltic  Sea.  Is  it  not  a  conceded  fact  that  the 
European  nations,  at  the  very  farthest,  cannot  do  better  than  to  take  a 
lesson  in  government  from  our  Republic  ?  Is  it  not  our  example 
which  is  stinging  and  goading  the  restive  democrats  of  Europe  into 


22  A   VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

their  desperate  revolts  and  crushed,  but  not  conquered,  revolutions  ? 
Have  the  despotic  kings  and  emperors  of  that  Continent  more  than 
one  thing  to  fear?  is  there  more  than  one  ghost  at  their  banquets? 
They  are  haunted  by  American  Freedom — if  by  naught  else. 

Reformers  and  revolutionists,  tyrants  and  their  victims,  alike  look 
westward.  Kossuth  exhausts  all  the  magic  of  his  eloquence  to  engage 
us  for  his  dear,  fallen  Hungary  ;  Russia  is  our  very  good  friend — for 
the  time  being — and  would  not  grieve  us  for  the  world ;  Englishmen 
look  to  our  administrative  forms  for  examples  to  be  imitated  by  the 
imbecile  red-tapists  of  Downing-street.  Blackwood's  Magazine  at  last 
admits  that  the  truth  of  our  power  and  progress  fully  equals  all  the 
statements  which  have  heretofore  been  considered  "  extravagant  gas 
conade  ;"  the  Westminster  Review  terms  our  Republic  "  the  pole-star 
to  which  the  eye  of  struggling  nations  turns,"  and,  in  a  long  article, 
compares  our  effective  and  economical  governmental  methods  with 
the  expensive  follies  of  Victoria's  administration  ;  the  Edinburgh  Re 
view,  which  has  heretofore  spoken  so  bitterly  and  scornfully,  concedes 
the  full  reality  of  our  physical  prosperity,  and  our  present  success  in 
literature  and  art,  and  foretells  for  us  a  splendid  future  in  each  and  all. 

Hitherto,  the  energies  of  our  republic  have  been  expended  in 
developing  the  immense  resources  of  our  extended  territory.  We 
have  taken  no  position  amongst  the  nations  ;  our  name,  in  fact,  wa-s 
scarcely  mentioned.  But  the  Russian  war  has  summoned  us  to  Eu 
rope  ;  American  diplomacy  has  made  monarchs  thoughtful ;  the 
United  States  have  come  to  be  regarded,  not  merely  as  a  great 
nation,  but  as  one  to  be  courted  and  feared — a  government  capa 
ble  of  arbitrating  in  the  affairs  of  the  Old  World,  whose  public 
opinion  is  respected,  and  whose  favorable  decision  is  regarded  as  a 
great  moral  power.  Already,  Europeans  give  us  the  possession  of 
tiiis  entire  continent.  They  apply  the  term  American  only  to  us.  A 
Mexican,  a  Canadian  even,  is  never,  by  them,  called  American ;  that 
name  they  consider  ours  alone.  Europe,  in  fact,  embraces  the  Mon 
roe  doctrine.  Every  month  sees  our  influence  increasing.  Steam 
communication  between  the  two  continents  lins  reached  an  unparal- 


UNITED  STATES- — RETROSPECTIVE   AXU   PROSPECTIVE.     23 

Jelled  perfection,  and  yet  is  insufficient  to  meet  the  demands  of  our 
business  men.  A  fortnight,  a  week,  a  day,  nay,  an  hour,  is  too  long  to 
obtain  information — ere  long,  the  submarine  telegraph  will  put  Amer 
ica  and  Europe  in  momentary  communication.  All  things  tend  to 
give  our  country  an  immense  preponderance  in  European  affairs — a 
preponderance  which  is  now  beginning  to  be  felt,  and  is  deprecated 
by  the  despots  and  tyrants  of  the  Old  World. 

Such  have  the  United  States  been — such  they  are  to-day.  What 
they  will  be  a  century  from  this  time,  is  a  question  which  it  is  be 
yond  the  power  of  human  prescience  to  answer,  except  by  estimate  or 
conjecture.  Of  our  future,  some  few  elements  may  be  considered  ca 
pable  of  reasonably  reliable  prophecy.  That  every  ten  years  of  our 
future  growth  will  surpass  any  preceding  ten,  is  proved  by  our  prog 
ress  hitherto.  The  last  decade  of  our  physical  and  intellectual  prog 
ress  shows  an  advance  greater  than  that  of  the  preceding  twenty 
years,  and  greater  than  any  other  fifty  years.  For  territory,  within 
the  coming  century  we  may  have  the  entire  continent  of  North  Amer 
ica  ;  for  population,  we  shall  have  one  hundred  millions  of  people,  not 
of  an  effete  and  overgrown  stock,  like  that  hideous  monster,  the  Chi 
nese  race,  but  a  people  of  vigorous  youth,  foremost  in  the  blessings  of 
freedom,  and  still  marching  onward,  in  the  pure  light  of  civilization, 
towards  the  highest  human  development. 

The  Anglo-American  is  the  king  of  men.  He  possesses  all  the 
powerful  and  commanding  nature  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  clear,  cool 
head,  the  sober,  calculating  mind,  the  regard  for  law,  the  obstinate  ad 
herence  to  justice ;  but  fused  and  fired  by  the  pure  bright  air  of 
America,  and  yet  more  by  the  wide  freedom  of  American  life,  into  the 
go-ahead  and  tireless  energy,  which  endures  no  delay  and  brooks  no 
opposition.  The  Anglo-American  is  the  controlling  type,  the  leading 
element  of  our  future  population. 

America  in  1950  promises  to  be,  what  the  folly  of  the  misproud 
Celestial  so  -sillily  calls  his  stolid  people — the  Central  Nation.  Al 
ready  we  stretch  forth  our  hands  to  Europe  and  to  Asia,  and  con 
trol  the  commerce  of  two  oceans,  and  modify  the  politics  of  two 


24:  A    VOICE   TO   AMERICA 

continents.  Europe,  inspired  by  our  example,  already  smokes  and 
groans  in  the  rising  ferment  of  revolutions.  We  have  opened  the 
heretofore  closed  doors  of  distant  Japan.  American  commerce  and 
American  civilization  are  striding  inland,  up  the  vast  streams  of  the 
great  Asiatic  rivers  and  across  her  tremendous  steppes.  Even  our 
missionaries  among  the  heathen  are  driven  by  the  logical  results 
of  Protestant  Christianity  to  become  founders  of  States  and  the 
promoters  of  independent  political  action.  The  Christianized  king 
dom  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  was  converted  and  liberalized  by  Pro 
testant  missionaries.  A  Christian  civilization  has  gone  from  us  to 
commence  the  work  of  enlightening  Africa,  and  has  made  a  firm 
lodgment  within  the  small  but  vigorous  Republic  of  Liberia.  Our 
missionary  stations  among  the  North  American  Indians,  in  Turkey 
and  Armenia,  in  China,  have  been  the  centres  of  a  light  which  has 
illuminated  first  the  souls-  and  then  the  minds  of  the  barbarians,  and 
which  is  gradually  transforming  them  into  self-governing  and  dignified 
communities.  "We  have  joined  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  by  rail 
road  ;  we  shall  repeat  the  junction  by  telegraph  and  by  canal.  Throned 
between  two  oceans,  we  shall  control  the  mercantile  exchanges  of  the 
world,  and  with  them  the  civilization  and  the  welfare  of  mankind. 
It  is  not  for  us  to  rule  writh  the  barbarous  violence  of  conquest.  It  is 
not  for  us  to  force  a  prostrating  commercial  system  upon  tributary 
millions  by  war,  to  steal  colonies  everywhere,  to  speckle  the  world 
with  our  garrisons,  and  then  to  boast  that  the  drum-beat  of  our  army 
ever  greets  the  rising  sun. 

For  us  there  is  a  safer,  a  surer,  a  nobler  road,  to  a  more  desirable 
and  enduring  empire.  Our  destiny  is  to  show  the  nations  what  is  the 
greatest  amount  of  national  and  individual  happiness  and  prosperity 
which  is  possible  under  laws  free  and  enlightened,  and  with  a  people 
self-governed  and  self-controlling.  In  the  quiet  and  unaggressive  ful 
filment  of  that  destiny  we  wield  the  lever  which  shall  move  the 
world. 

A  free  and  lofty  humanity,  seeking  all  that  is  good  by  every  means 
that  is  right — such  is  the  ideal  of  man  and  his  life,  which  became 


UNITED  STATES — EETKOSPECTIVE  AND  PROSPECTIVE.    25 

practicable  in  our  empire  for  the  first  time.  That  ideal  life  satisfies 
all  aspirations.  Men  will  come  to  us  to  enjoy  those  privileges  un 
der  our  broad  banner  for  a  time,  but,  ere  long,  they  will  assert  their 
right  to  enjoy  them  at  home.  Before  a  century  has  passed,  the  United 
States  of  America  will  stand  peerless  in  strength  and  beauty,  the  pride 
and  excellence  of  the  whole  earth ;  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed  ;  the 
apostle  of  all  truth ;  the  freest,  noblest,  happiest,  purest  among  the 
nations ;  the  crown  and  culmination  of  human  progress ;  the  full 
expression  of  human  development,  under  the  conditions  of  a  national 
existence  based  upon  the  eternal  truths  of  Christianity, — maintained 
by  laws  enacted  by  the  wide  consent  of  all,  restricting  not  one  hair's 
breadth  the  rightful  activity  or  happiness  of  any — invigorated  and 
intensified  by  the  untrammelled  play  of  those  infinite  powers  which 
God  has  given  to  man,  and  which  are  as  comprehensive  as  the  uni 
verse  of  matter  and  of  thought  in  which  he  exists. 


THE    ANCIENT    REPUBLICS: 

A  GLANCE  AT  EARLY  (UTILIZATION. 

"  Out  of  history  we  may  gather  a  policy  no  less  -wise  than  eternal,  by  the  comparison  and  applica 
tion  of  other  men's  forepast  miseries  with  our  own  like  errors  and  ill-deservings." 

SIB  WALTER  RALEIGH. 

THE  records  of  past  ages  are  the  inheritance  of  the  present.  They 
are  a  study  fertile  in  interest  and  value.  They  form  the  great  text 
book,  to  which  all  make  their  appeal.  It  is  in  the  classic  ages  we 
seek  for  the  most  splendid  triumphs  of  art — the  purest  models — 
whether  in  sculpture  or  poetry,  in  philosophy,  science,  ethics,  or  law. 
"We  gaze,  through  the  dim  vista  of  centuries,  with  deep  and  solemn 
interest  upon  the  ruins  of  those  grand  and  colossal  states  and  empires 
which  successively  swayed  the  destinies  of  the  world — the  Assyrian, 
the  Egyptian,  the  Grecian,  and  Roman.  We  are  not  only  amazed  at 
their  magnificence  and  splendor,  but  we  are  curious  to  know  the 
secret  sources  of  their  rise,  progress,  and  decay.  It  is  thus  that 
"  history  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example." 

The  Germans,  who  are  distinguished  for  their  love  of  antiquarian 
research,  yet  fail,  with  all  their  zeal  and  perseverance,  to  derive  all 
the  advantages  of  which  the  study  is  susceptible.  Their  deductions, 
Coleridge  compares  to  the  stern-lights  of  a  ship,  illuminating  merely 
the  past ;  the  true  uses  of  history — its  warnings  and  teachings — are 
comparatively  forgotten.  May  not  every  government  read,  in  the 
experience  of  the  ancients,  its  dangers,  its  destiny,  and  its  duties? 
And  especially  to  every  republican  government,  are  not  the  fall  of 
the  classic  republics,  and  the  sanguinary  revolutions  of  France,  full 
of  admonitory  interest  ?  Let  us  extract  the  moral  which  the  eventful 
story  of  the  free  States  of  antiquity  suggests.  A  vast  amount  of  labor 


A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

and  learned  research  lias  been  expended  upon  the  history  of  the 
ancient  republics,  but  comparatively  little  is  written  or  known  con 
cerning  their  social  economy,  which  formed  the  great  moral  lever  of 
society.  We  propose  to  take  a  brief  survey  of  the  causes  which 
superinduced  the  overthrow  of  these  renowned  States.  We  shall 
avail  ourselves  of  the  best  recorded  testimony,  and  the  best  judg 
ments  of  historians  and  political  economists.  If  it  be  an  admitted 
maxim  of  liberal  government,  that  the  safety  and  happiness  of  the 
whole  community  is  the  true  and  only  end  of  all  government ;  and  if 
this  is  the  basis  of  the  republican  form,  and  the  converse  of  it,  the 
despotic — who  among  us  is  not  fired  with  a  generous  enthusiasm  as 
he  pores  over  the  details  of  the  heroic  virtues,  and  lingers  over  the 
philosophic  maxims  of  the  sages  of  antiquity  ?  Who  does  not  glory 
in  their  brilliant  though  brief  successes,  or  watch,  with  the  sympathy 
of  suffering  friends,  their  decline  and  fall  ?  The  world  is  on  the  side  of 
liberty,  and  the  history  of  its  progressive  development  comprehends 
the  history  of  the  race.  The  advocate  of  freedom  is,  therefore,  the 
friend  of  humanity.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  between  true 
liberty  and  unbridled  license,  there  exists  as  wide  a  distinction  as 
between  virtue  and  vice.  The  latter  is  the  bane  of  the  former ;  they 
have  ever  been  antagonistic  in  their  influences. 

A  mysterious  system  of  causes  has  crystallized  society  into  cycles, 
in  each  of  which  some  particular  idea  has  become  the  dominant  prin 
ciple.  These  cycles  are  illustrated  by  the  early  idolaters  of  Canaan, 
who  had  their  Iconoclast  in  Abraham ;  by  the  sophists  of  Athens,  and 
their  Aristophanes ;  those  of  Rome,  with  their  Lucian ;  the  knights- 
errant  of  modern  Europe,  with  Cervantes  ;  the  religious  bigots  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  with  their  polemical  and  philosophical  scribes.* 
Coleridge  observes  that  "  the  Jewish  theocracy  was  itself  but  a  mean 
to  a  further  and  greater  end ;  and  that  the  effects  of  the  policy  were 
subordinated  to  an  interest  far  more  momentous  than  that  of  any 
single  kingdom  or  commonwealth  could  be."  Liberty,  civil  and 
political,  has  also  had  its  confessors  and  noble  army  of  martyrs,  aixl 
\Dern.  Rev.,  1842. 


THE   ANCIENT   REPUBLICS.  29 

the  history  of  its  heroic  progress  is  filled  with  illustrious  names  and 
deeds — Pericles,  Cicero,  and  Caesar ;  Tell,  Wallace,  and  Washington ; 
Cromwell,  Mirabeau,  and  Napoleon >^J^ese  were,  in  the  language  of 
an  old  dramatist,  the  planets  of  the  ages  in  which  they  lived,  and 
illustrate  their  times.  It  was  for  her  sacred  cause  that  the  ever- 
memorable  events  of  Thermopylae,  of  the  Punic  wars,  of  Marston 
Moor,  and  the  American  war  of  Independence  were  enacted, — the 
last  named  of  which  has  this  proud  distinction :  that  it  is  guiltless  of 
wantonly  shedding  the  bk>od  of  the  innocent ;  and  was  triumphant 
alike  over  tyranny  and  despotism,  and  the  lawless  passions  of  yictors. 
Taking  a  bird's-eye  view  of  history,  we  see  Caesar,  the  pagan,  prepar 
ing  the  way  for  Christianity ;  Charlemagne,  the  barbarian,  for  civili 
zation  ;  and  Napoleon,  the  despot,  for  liberty — yet  presenting  the 
anomalous  character  of  the  popular  patron  of  aristocratical  power. 

The  study  of  history  is  one  of  political  and  social  progress.  In 
the  earliest  ages,  society  was  in  a  crude,  chaotic  condition,  equally 
removed  from  the  luxuries  and  refinements,  as  well  as  the  amenities 
and  courtesies  which  characterize  it  in  modern  times.  We  discover 
the  germ  of  popular  or  republican  power  in  Greece  and  Rome. 
There  was  yet  wanting  in  these  republican  States  the  great  essential 
of  free  institutions — self-government.  The  intellectual  force  of  Gre 
cian  character  kept  in  check  the  revolutionary  tendency  of  the  fickle 
populace,  while  in  Rome  the  intellectual  refinement  of  Greece  tended 
rather  to  emasculate  than  invigorate  the  body  politic.  The  histories 
of  these  States — Greece  and  Rome — are,  therefore,  those  of  our  in 
structors  in  the  arts  and  sciences, — guides  in  literature  and  patterns 
of  intellectual  excellence,  rather  than  the  models  of  political  or  social 
ethics.  The  history  of  the  mediaeval  ages — which  forms  the  connect 
ing  link  between  the  remote  past  and  the  present — although  com 
paratively  barren  of  instructive  teaching,  is  necessarily  replete  with 
interest,  being  that  of  our  more  immediate  ancestors,  from  whom  we 
Ixive  derived  our  language,  laws,  and  customs.  The  feudal  system  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  with  all  that  may  be  justly  urged  against  it,  for  its 
severe  exactions  upon  popular  freedom,  was  yet  a  necessity  of  the 


30  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

times,  while  it  superinduced  a  lore  of  heroism,  patriotism,  and  virtue. 
A  romantic  interest  invests  that  long  period  of  the  world's  eclipse ; 
for  although  the  populace  surrendered  themselves  to  the  thraldom  of 
superstition  and  ignorance,  it  was  the  proud  era  of  Papal  pomp  and 
magnificence, — of  gorgeous  cathedrals,  splendid  pageants,  cloistered 
learning,  and  the  chivalrous  exploits  of  the  knights-errant.  Society, 
however,  was  in  servile  subjection.  Two  classes  —  lords,  or  feudal 
barons,  with  their  vassals,  or  serfs — constituted  its  great  distinctions. 
Feudalism  accomplished  nothing  for  popular  progress.  Amidst  the 
brilliant  constellation  of  genius  which  at  length  dispelled  the  linger 
ing  darkness,  came  forth  the  great  spirits  of  Liberty.  Then  came 
the  great  revolutionary  eras  of  modern  times  —  the  English,  the 
French,  and  the  American.  These  tended,  in  each  instance,  to  de 
termine  the  true  sources  of  power,  and  to  reveal  the  long-hidden 
truth,  that  freedom  is  the  birthright  of  the  race.  It  was  the  Ameri 
can  "Declaration  of  Independence"  which  gave  the  full  solution  of  the 
problem,  and  assigned  it  a  place  in  the  common  heart.  It  was  that 
modern  "  Magna  Charta"  which  conferred  upon  the  model  republic  of 
the  nineteenth  century  the  full  immunities  and  privileges  of  freemen.* 
The  great  religious  revolution  originating  with  Luther  and  his 

*  "  It  is  as  a  great,  solemn  political  act,  that  it  demands  our  highest  veneration. 
What  had  the  world  ever  seen  that  was  equal,  that  approached  to  it  ?  Go  to 
antiquity — to  Greece,  to  Kome — travel  over  France,  Spain,  Germany,  and  the 
whole  of  modern  continental  Europe, — all  was  comparative  gloom  ;  political  sci 
ence  had  not  risen.  Go  to  the  isles  of  the  sea — to  Britain,  then  the  freest  of 
nations ;  and  Englishmen  would  proudly  point  you  to  their  Magna  Charta,  as 
their  most  valuable  birthright,  and  the  greatest  bulwark  of  liberty  which  any 
nation  had  raised.  It  was  so.  And  yet  how  does  it  dwindle  in  contrast  with 
©ur  Declaration  of  Independence,  which  was  a  greater  era  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  than  Magna  Charta  was  in  the  history  of  England  !  The  latter  was  a 
concession,  extorted  by  armed  barons  from  their  sovereign.  It  was  what  is 
called  a  charter  from  the  king,  as  the  fountain  of  all  right  and  power.  He  was 
their  lord  and  master — the  ultimate  owner  of  all  the  soil  in  the  kingdom;  and 
this  was  a  grant— forced,  it  is  true,  but  still  a  grant— from  his  grace  and  favor, 
allowing  the  exercise  of  some  rights  to  his  subjects,  and  consenting  to  some 
limits  to  his  royal  prerogative. 

"  The  former  is  not  a  grant  of  privileges  to  a  portion  of  a  single  nation ;  it  is 


THE   ANCIENT   REPUBLICS.  31 

coadjutors,  however,  gave  to  the  world  the  first  grand  impulse  towards 
freedom,  by  bursting  the  shackles  of  ignorance  and  superstition.  Up 
to  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  nations  of  Europe  were 
at  a  low  state  of  civilization.  A  new  era  then  dawned  upon  mankind, 
by  the  discovery  of  the  Western  continent ;  and  there  the  spirit  of 
religious  and  civil  liberty  found  its  temple  and  its  home.  There  Lib 
erty  had  a  most  bold  and  adventurous  priesthood — men  of  heroism 
and  virtue,  the  pioneer-missionaries  of  the  cross. 

"The  Puritans  were  men  whose  minds  had  derived  a  peculiar 
character  from  the  daily  contemplation  of  superior  beings  and  eternal 
interests.  Not  content  with  acknowledging,  in  general  terms,  an  over 
ruling  Providence,  they  habitually  ascribed  every  event  to  the  will  of 
the  Great  Being,  for  whose  power  nothing  was  too  vast,  for  whose 
inspection'  nothing  was  too  minute.  To  know  him,  to  serve  him,  to 
enjoy  him,  was  with  them  the  great  end  of  existence.  They  rejected 
with  contempt  the  ceremonious  homage  which  other  sects  substituted 
for  the  pure  worship  of  the  soul.  Instead  of  «atching  occasional 
glimpses  of  the  Deity  through  an  obscuring  veil,  they  aspired  to 
gaze  full  on  the  intolerable  brightness,  and  to  commune  with  him 
face  to  face.  Hence  originated  their  contempt  for  terrestrial  distinc 
tions.  The  difference  between  the  -greatest  and  meanest  of  mankind 
seemed  to  vanish,  when  compared  with  the  boundless  interval  which 
separated  the  whole  race  from  him  on  whom  their  own  eyes  were 
constantly  fixed.  They  recognized  no  title  to  superiority  but  his 
favor ;  and,  confident  of  that  favor,  they  despised  all  the  accomplish 
ments  and  all  the  dignities  of  the  world.  If  they  were  unacquainted 

a  DECLARATION,  ~by  a  whole  people,  of  what  before  existed,  and  will  always  exist — • 
the  native  equality  of  the  human  race,  as  the  true  foundation  of  all  political,  of 
all  human  institutions.  It  was  an  ASSERTION  that  we  held  our  rights,  as  we  hold 
oar  existence,  by  no  charter,  except  from  the  KINO  OF  KINGS.  It  vindicated  the 
dignity  of  our  nature.  It  rested  upon  this  '  one  inextinguishabte  tru-th,  which 
never  has  been,  and  never  can  be  wholly  eradicated  from  the  human  heart, 
pkced  as  it  is  in  the  very  core  and  centre  of  it  by  its  Maker :  that  man  was  not 
rnadft  the  property  of  man ;  that  human  power  is  a  trust  for  human  benefit, 
and  that  when  it  is  abused,  resistance  becomes  justice  and  duty.'  " — Sprague. 


32  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

•with  the  works  of  philosophers  and  poets,  they  were  deeply  read  in 
the  ora«les  of  God.  If  their  names  were  not  found  in  the  registers 
of  heralds,  they  felt  assured  that  they  were  recorded  in  the  Book  of 
Life.  If  their  steps  were  not  accompanied  by  a  splendid  train  of 
menials,  legions  of  ministering  angels  had  charge  over  them.  Their 
palaces  were  houses  not  made  with  hands ;  their  diadems  crowns  of 
glory  which  should  never  fade  away  !  On  the  rich  and  the  eloquent, 
on  nobles  and  priests,  they  looked  down  with  contempt ;  for  they 
esteemed  themselves  rich  in  a  more  precious  treasure,  and  eloquent 
in  a  more  sublime  language, — nobles  by  the  right  of  an  earlier  crea 
tion,  and  priests  by  the  imposition  of  a  mightier  hand.  The  very 
meanest  of  them  was  a  being  to  whose  fate  a  mysterious  and  terrible 
importance  belonged ;  on  whose  slightest  action  the  spirits  of  light 
and  darkness  looked  with  anxious  interest ;  who  had  been  destined, 
before  heaven  and  earth  were  created,  to  enjoy  a  felicity  which  should 
continue  when  heaven  and  earth  should  have  passed  away.  Events 
which  short-sighted  politicians  ascribed  to  earthly  causes,  had  beeia 
ordained  on  his  account.  For  his  sake,  empires  had  risen,  and  flour 
ished,  and  decayed.  For  his  sake,  the  Almighty  had  proclaimed  his 
will,  by  the  pen  of  the  evangelist  and  the  harp  of  the  prophet.  He 
had  been  rescued  by  no  common  deliverer  from  the  grasp  of  no  com 
mon  foe.  He  had  been  ransomed  by  the  sweat  of  no  vulgar  agony — 
by  the  blood  of  no  earthly  sacrifice.  It  was  for  him  that  the  sun 
had  been  darkened,  that  the  rocks  had  been  rent,  that  the  dead  had 
arisen,  that  all  nature  had  shuddered  at  the  sufferings  of  her  expiring 
God ! 

"  Thus  the  Puritan  was  made  up  of  two  different  men — the  one 
self-abasement,  penitence,  gratitude,  passion ;  the  other  proud,  calm, 
inflexible,  sagacious.  He  prostrated  himself  in  the  dust  before  his 
Maker ;  but  he  set  his  foot  on  the  neck  of  his  king.  In  his  devo 
tional  retirement,  he  prayed  with  convulsions,  and  groans,  and  tears. 
He  was  half  maddened  by  glorious  or  terrible  illusions.  lie  heard 
the  lyres  of  angels,  or  the  tempting  whispers  of  fiends.  He  caught 
a  gleam  of  the  Beatific  Vision,  or  woke  screaming  from  dreams  of 


THE   ANCIENT   KEPUBLICS.  33 

everlasting  fire.  Like  Yaoe,  he  thought  himself  intrusted  with  the 
sceptre  of  the  millennial  year.  Like  Fleetwood,  he  cried,  in  the  bit 
terness  of  his  soul,  that  God  had  hid  his  face  from  him.  But,  when 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  council,  or  girt  on  his  sword  of  war,  these 
tempestuous  workings  of  the  soul  had  left  no  perceptible  trace  behind 
them.  People  who  saw  nothing  of  the  godly,  but  their  uncouth 
visages,  and  heard  nothing  from  them  but  their  groans  and  their 
whining  hymns,  might  laugh  at  them.  But  those  had  little  reason 
to  laugh  who  encountered  them  in  the  hall  of  debate,  or  in  the  field 
of  battle.  These  fanatics  brought  to  civil  and  military  affairs  a  cool 
ness  of  judgment,  and  an  immutability  of  purpose,  which  some 
writers  have  thought  inconsistent  with  their  religious  zeal,  but  which 
were  in  fact  the  necessary  effects  of  it.  The  intensity  of  their  feel 
ings  on  one  subject  made  them  tranquil  in  every  other.  One  over 
powering  sentiment  had  subjected  to  itself  pity  and  hatred,  ambition 
and  fear.  Death  had  lost  its  terrors,  and  pleasure  its  charms.  They 
had  their  smiles  and  their  tears,  their  raptures  and  their  sorrows,  but 
not  for  things  of  this  world.  Enthusiasm  had  made  them  Stoics, 
had  cleared  their  minds  from  every  vulgar  passion  and  prejudice,  and 
raised  them  above  the  influence  of  danger  and  of  corruption.  It 
sometimes  might  lead  them  to  pursue  unwise  ends,  but  never  to 
choose  unwise  means.  They  went  through  the  world  like  Sir  Ar- 
tegle's  iron  man  Talus  with  his  flail,  crushing  and  trampling  down 
oppressors — mingling  with  human  beings,  but  having  neither  part 
nor  lot  in  human  infirmities ;  insensible  to  fatigue,  to  pleasure,  and  to 
pain ;  not  to  be  pierced  by  any  weapon,  not  to  be  withstood-  by  any 
barrier. 

"  Such  we  believe  to  have  been  the  character  of  the  Puritans.  We 
perceive  the  absurdity  of  their  manners.  We  dislike  the  sullen  gloom 
of  their  domestic  habits.  We  acknowledge  that  the  tone  of  their 
minds  was  often  injured  by  straining  after  things  too  high  for  mortal 
reach ;  and  we  know  that,  in  spite  of  their  hatred  of  Popery,  they 
too  often  fell  into  the  worst  vices  of  that  bad  system — intolerance 
and  extravagant  austerity ;  that  they  had  their  anchorites  and  their 


34:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

crusades,  their  Dunstans  and  their  De  Montforts,  their  Dominies  and 
their  Escobars.  Yet,  when  all  circumstances  are  taken  into  con 
sideration,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  them  a  brave,  a  wise,  an 
honest,  and  a  useful  body."* 

But  we  ask — Where  are  the  free  nations  of  antiquity  ? 

"Gone,  glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were, 
A  school-boy's  tale,  the  wonder  of  an  hour." 

It  has  been  said  that  no  civilized  nation  has,  at  any  period  of  its 
history,  so  completely  thrown  off  its  allegiance  to  the  past,  as  the 
American.  The  whole  essay  of  our  national  life  and  legislation  has 
been  a  prolonged  protest  against  the  dominion  of  antiquity.  This 
disregard  of  ancient  precedent  is  quite  consistent  with  the  intrepid 
daring  and  sagacious  policy  of  the  revered  founders  of  our  national 
institutions.  It  would  be  impossible  to  institute  any  analogy  between 
the  governments  of  the  ancient  republics  and  our  own ;  yet  we  should 
be  willing  to  profit  by  the  voices  of  antiquity — be  warned  by  its  errors, 
and  incited  and  sustained  by  its  virtuous  examples. 

*  Macaulay. 


SPARTA    AND    ATHENS. 

"  Hnri vailed  Greece  !  where  every  power  benign 
Conspired  to  blow  the  flower  of  human  kind." 

THOMSON. 

"  The  taste,  love,  and  intuition  of  the  Beautiful  stamped  the  Greeks  above  all  nations." 

BCLWER'S  ATHEKS. 

GREECE,  with  her  matchless  schools  of  learning  and  philosophy, 
her  arts  and  civilization,  lustrous  with  the  triumphs  and  trophies  of 
her  splendor,  has  for  twenty  centuries  ceased  to  exist,  save  in  the  im 
perishable  monuments  of  her  intellectual  glory  and  a  few  broken  col- 
amns  of  her  once  superb  temples,  her  Parthenon,  some  of  the  beauti 
ful  creations  of  Phidias,  as  well  as  the  classic  Vale  of  Tempe,  the  rug 
ged  defiles  of  Thermopylae,  and  the  towering  heights  of  Areopagus. 
We  naturally  ask  whence  did  this  mighty  people  derive  the  elements 
of  their  greatness  ?  Some,  by  a  fanciful  conceit,  have  suggested  that 
it  was  in  part  superinduced  by  the  influences  of  climate  and  the  sce 
nery  by  which  they  were  surrounded ;  that  the  physical  geography 
of  Greece — a  combination  of  sea  and  mountains — served  to  make 
it  the  cradle  of  a  bold  and  free  people ;  or,  as  Wordsworth  apostro 
phizes  it — 

"Two  voices  are  there:  one  is  of  the  sea, 

One  of  the  mountains  :  each  a  mighty  voice. 

In  both  from  age  to  age  thou  didst  rejoice  : 

They  are  thy  chosen  music — Liberty." 

Such  a  theory  is,  however,  manifestly  untenable,  as  the  abortive  at 
tempt,  in  modern  times,  to  resuscitate  Athens  sufficiently  attests. 

"'Tis  Greece,  but  living  Greece  no  more! 
So  coldly  sweet,  so  deadly  fair, — 
We  start,  for  soul  is  wanting  there!"* 

Leaving  the  solution  of  the  problem  with  the  ingenuity  of  the  curious 

*  Byron. 


36  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

in  such  speculative  matters,  we  shall  probably  content  the  reader 
by  a  rapid  survey  of  the  geographical  limits  of  the  Hellenic  States, 
together  with  an  outline  sketch  of  their  rise,  progress,  and  decay. 
Greece,  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Cambuman  mountains,  which 
separate  it  from  Macedonia,  on  the  south  and  east  by  the  ^Eg^au,  on 
the  west  by  the  Ionian  sea,  extended  two  hundred  and  twenty  geo 
graphical  miles  in  length  by  one  hundred  and  foMy  in  breadth.  In 
its  salubrity  of  climate,  variety  and  fertility  of  soil,  it  possessed  ad 
vantages  unequalled  by  any  other  country  of  similar  extent.  Situated 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  three  quarters  of  the  world,  on  three  sides  wash 
ed  by  the  sea,  and  abounding  with  commodious  ports  and  harbors, 
its  advantages  for  commerce  and  navigation  were  scarcely  less  con 
spicuous.  It  was  divided  into  Northern  Greece,  comprehending 
Thessaly  and  Epirus ;  Central  Greece  or  Hellas,  which  included  At 
tica  with  its  Marathon,  Megares,  Boeotia  with  its  Thebes,  Plateca,  and 
Cha3ronea  ;  and  the  southern  peninsula,  or  Peloponnesus,  containing 
Arcadia,  Achaia  with  its  twelve  cities,  and  Laconia  with  its  Sparta. 
Its  jurisdiction  also  extended  to  groups  of  islands  adjacent  in  the 
Ionian  and  .^Egccan  seas,  as  well  as  more  extensive  separate  islands. 

Greece  was  originally  peopled  by  several  insignificant  races  of 
barbarians :  among  them  two  principal  tribes  claim  our  notice — the 
Pelasgi  and  the  Hellenes.  These  were  of  Asiatic  origin,  but  of  dif 
ferent  dialects.  The  Pelasgians  settled  in  the  Peloponnesus  about 
1800  B.  C.  Although  rude  in  their  origin,  they  are  supposed  to 
have  made  some  advances  towards  civilization,  since  they  founded 
the  ancient  states  Argos  and  Sicyon  ;  and  to  them  are  attributed 
those  marvellous  monuments  termed  Cyclopian.  They  spread  to 
wards  the  north,  founded  Attica,  made  settlements  in  Thessaly,  and 
existed  as  a  people  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  successive^years. 

The  Hellenes — subsequently  so  called  from  Helleu,  one  of  their 
chieftains — originally  the  weaker  of  the  two  tribes,  made  their  finst 
appearance  in  Phocis,  near  Parnassus,  under  Deucalion.  They  after 
wards  invaded  Thessaly,  expelled  from  thence  the  Pelasgi,  and  sub 
sequently  drove  them  to  Arcadia.  The  gradual  spread  of  the  various 


SPARTA  AND   ATHENS.  37 

branches  of  the  Hellenic  tribe  over  Greece  was  effected  by  several 
migrations  ;  after  which  they  preserved  the  settlements  they  had  al 
ready  obtained,  until  the  later  migration  of  the  Dorians  and  Herac- 
lidce,  about  1100  B.  C. 

Besides  these  original  inhabitants,  colonies  at  the  same  early  period 
came  into  Greece  from  civilized  countries, — from  Egypt,  Phoenicia, 
and  Mysia.  Much  of  their  early  attainments  in  domestic  civilization 
is  to  be  traced  to  these  foreign  sources,  as  well  as  their  mythological 
and  religious  rites  and  observances.  These,  however,  became  in , 
their  adoption  less  Egyptian,  Asiatic,  or  Thracian  than  Grecian.  To 
their  religious  system,  in  part,  is  to  be  ascribed  their  progress  towards 
polished  refinement.  The  ancient  minstrels  or  bards  contributed  to 
this  end,  by  their  dissemination  of  moral  and  religious  sentiment, 
diverting  them  from  a  love  of  barbarous  warfare  to  the  advantages 
of  civilized  life.  The  oracles  of  Delphi,  Dodona,  and  Olympia  were 
no  less  powerful  to  the  same  end.  The  necessity  of  consulting  these 
sanctuaries  naturally  led  men  to  regard  the  oracles  as  the  common 
property  of  the  nation ;  and  thus  these  various  tribes,  who  had  been 
hitherto  strangers,  met  in  peace ;  and  hence  arose  spontaneously  the 
first  idea  of  a  commonwealth  and  a  confederacy. 

It  was  at  Delphi  that  the  most  important  and  the  most  protracted 
of  these  political  reunions — that  of  the  Amphyctions — occurred.  It 
adopted  the  principle  that  none  of  the  cities  belonging  to  the  league 
should  be  destroyed  by  the  others.  We  now  discover  the  germ  of 
the  chivalric  spirit  of  the  nation,  and  the  development  of  its  youthful 
vigor  in  the  heroic  ages.  A  love  of  daring  adventure  and  heroic 
exploit,  not  only  individually  but  also  in  confederate  bodies,  led  them 
beyond  the  limits  of  their  fatherland.  These  emprises  of  valor  being 
rehearsed  by  their  bards,  they  thus  acquired  a  national  poesy  such 
as  no  other  people  possessed,  and  such  as  contributed  to  the  fuller 
development  of  the  national  genius.  At  this  juncture,  when  the 
combined  Hellenic  nations  were  ripe  for  some  grand  military  expedi 
tion,  came  the  memorable  siege  of  Troy.  The  most  important  result 
of  that  war  was  the  kindling  of  one  common  national  spirit — a  spirit 

3 


38  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

which  even  survived  all  the  domestic  feitds  and  animosities.  This  expe 
dition,  which  lasted  ten  years,  and  was  crowned  with  such  signal  suc 
cess,  caused  the  Hellenes  to  regard  themselves  ever  after  as  one  people, 

The  Trojan  war  was  quickly  followed  by  tempestuous  times, — 
internal  strifes,  and  incursions  from  the  ruder  tribes  of  the  North, 
shook  Greece  during  an  entire  century.  The  Dorians  with  their  allies 
strove  to  possess  themselves  of  Peloponnesus,  and,  after  repeated  at 
tempts,  at  length  the  Heracliclse  succeeded  in  revolutionizing  the 
Hellenic  States.  The  territories  of  Argos,  Sparta,  Messene,  and  Cor 
inth  were  wrested  from  the  Achreans,  who  had  hitherto  inhabited 
them.  The  Achncans  expelled,  in  their  turn,  the  lonians,  and  form 
ed  the  settlement  called  Achaia ;  while  the  fugitive  lonians  were 
received  by  their  former  kinsmen,  the  Athenians. 

But  among  the  consequences  of  this  migration  of  the  Hellenic  races 
must  be  reckoned  likewise  the  establishment  of  Greek  colonies  in  Asia 
Minor — an  occurrence  of  the  highest  import  to  their  national  develop 
ment.  This  colonization,  commenced  by  the  JHolian  Hellenes,  was 
soon  followed  by  the  lonians,  and  even  the  Dorians.  Among  the 
effects  of  these  migrations  and  wars  was  not  only  an  interruption  to 
the  progress  of  civilization,  but  even  almost  entirely  the  annihilation 
of  it ;  yet  in  this  universal  movement  the  foundation  was  laid  of  that 
constitution  of  things  which  afterwards  existed  in  Greece.*  The 
tribes  which  had  migrated,  as  well  as  those  which  had  been  expelled., 
remained  at  first  under  the  dominion  of  their  hereditary  princes,  some 
for  a  longer,  others  for  a  shorter  period.  In  the  two  centuries,  how 
ever,  immediately  subsequent  to  the  migrations  (B.  C.  1100-900) 
republican  constitutions  took  the  place  of  hereditary  clanship  in  all 
the  Grecian  countries,  the  distant  Epirus  cxcepted.  These  republics 
continued  to  exist  amid  the  various  revolutions  which  happened,  and 
the  love  of  political  freedom  became  from  this  time  the  national  senti 
ment.  In  this  newly-constituted  order  of  things,  each  city  with  the 
territory  around  it  formed  a  separate  state,  and  framed  its  own  con 
stitution  ;  hence  there  arose  as  many  free  states  as  cities.  Although 
*  Heeren's  Researches. 


SPARTA   AND   ATHENS.  39 

thus  parcelled  out  iuto  a  number  of  petty  states,  there  existed  a  cer 
tain  unity  among  the  Hellenic  race,  a  certain  national  spirit :  this  was 
produced  in  part  by  their  custom  of  attending  the  national  festivals 
and  games ;  and  this  union  was  further  promoted  by  the  Amphic- 
tyonic  council,  from  which  originated  Grecian  ideas  of  international 
and  judicial  law.  Even  at  this  early  period  Sparta  and  Athens  be 
came  distinguished  for  their  superior  constitutions  and  laws.  These 
two  cities  in  fact  constitute  a  leading  essential  in  subsequent  Grecian 
history.  We  now  approach  a  revolutionary  era  in  the  government 
of  Sparta.  The  Achaeans  were  previously  governed  by  princes  of  the 
house  of  Perseus;  the  royal  power  was  now  divided  between  the 
families  of  Procles  and  Eurysthenes.  Soon  the  Dorians  acquired  the 
conquest  of  many  of  the  cities  of  the  peninsula-,  and  the  Achreans  be 
came  for  a  time  their  bondsmen.  The  Spartans,  however,  ultimately 
usurped  authority  over  the  whole  country,  which  they  continued  to 
retain.  The  records  of  the  two  following  centuries,  to  the  time  of 
Lycurgus,  are  filled  with  a  series  of  belligerent  engagements  on  the 
part  of  the  Spartans  with  their  neighbors,  the  Argives.  Lycurgus 
gave  to  Sparta  about  the  year  800  that  constitution  to  which  she 
was  principally  indebted  for  her  subsequent  splendor.  His  laws  were 
not  written,  but  conveyed  in  apophthegms,  which  were  confirmed  by 
the  oracle  of  Delphi.  The  principal  object  of  the  laws  of  Lycurgus 
was  to  insure  the  existence  of  Sparta,  by  creating  and  supporting  a 
vigorous  and  uncorrupted  race  of  men.  His  grand  maxim  was,  "that 
children  were  the  property  of  the  State,  to  which  alone  their  educa 
tion  was  to  be  intrusted." 

With  the  view  of  equalizing  the  two  extremes  of  great  wealth  and 
great  indigence,  he  divided  the  lands  into  equal  lots,  proportioned  to 
the  number  of  the-  inhabitants.  This  partition  of  the  territory  met 
with  violent  opposition  from  the  opulent,  as  might  have  been  expected ; 
but  such  was  the  commanding  influence  of  this  great  man,  that  he  tri 
umphed  over  all  opposition.  He  also  appointed  public  tables,  at  which 
all  citizens  were  enjoined  to  eat  together  without  distinction.  The  diet 
was  simple,  and  each  had  to  contribute  his  quota  for  the  repast.  On 


40  A   VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

these  occasions  of  public  feasting,  the  conversation  was  restricted  to 
topics  wholly  of  an  instructive  kind.  Xenophon  observes,  "  they 
were  schools  not  only  of  temperance  and  sobriety,  but  also  for  in 
struction."  Soon  after  the  time  of  Lycurgus,  the  Spartans  increased 
greatly  their  territory  by  their  wars  with  the  Messenians ;  and  al 
though  a  long  interval  elapsed  before  the  former  made  any  further 
attempts  at  invasion,  yet  on  the  deposition  of  Demaratus,  Cleoinenes, 
his  former  colleague,  was  compelled  to  bear  a  part  in  the  Persian 
war.  That  struggle,  together  with  the  idea  of  supremacy  in  Greece, 
which  had  now  taken  its  rise,  introduced  a  series  of  political  rela 
tions  before  unknown.'" 

It  was  at  this  epoch  that  the  seeds  of  strife  were  sown  between  the 
rival  republics  of  Sparta  and  Athens. 

The  history  of  Athens  during  this  period,  observes  Ilecren,  is  ren 
dered  important  rather  by  domestic  revolutions,  which  gradually 
tended  to  convert  the  State  into  a  republic,  than  by  external  aggran 
dizement.  The  situation  and  peculiarities  of  Attica,  rendering  it  less 
exposed  than  other  parts  of  Greece  to  the  attacks  of  wandering- 
hordes,  favored  the  tranquil  growth  of  national  prosperity.  The 
history  of  Athens,  as  a  State,  begins  properly  with  Theseus  (temp. 
1300  B.C.)  ;  although  certain  institutions,  such  as  that  of  the  Areo 
pagus,  the  division  of  the  people  into  nobles,  husbandmen,  and  me 
chanics,  may  be  traced  to  the  colony  of  Cecrops.  The  last  king  was 
Codrus,  who  by  a  voluntary  sacrifice  of  his  life  rescued  Attica  from 
the  inroads  of  the  Dorians,  in  1008.  The  period  of  the  Archons 
lasted  till  the  year  752  B.  C.  From  that  time  until  G82  no  remark 
able  events  occurred,  except  the  internal  commotions  which  were 
occasioned  by  the  oppressive  exactions  of  the  aristocratic  party. 
From  this  state  of  anarchy  Athens  was  rescued  by  Solon ;  a  man  to 
whom  not  only  Athens,  but  the  whole  human  race,  are  deeply  in 
debted,  lie  effected  the  happiness  of  his  country,  by  remodelling 
the  constitution  of  the  State. 

Solon  not  only  aimed  to  invest  the  administration  of  government 
*  HeerenV  Kesenrclies. 


SPARTA   AND   ATHENS.  41 

with  the  best  intelligence  and  prudence  of  which  he  could  avail 
himself ;  but  his  code  for  private  life  was  no  less  deserving  commen 
dation.  Unlike  Lycurgus,  he  regarded  polity  as  subordinate  to 
morals.  Yet  the  reader  need  not  be  reminded,  that  the  social  condi 
tion  of  Greece,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  modern  ages,  had  little, 
indeed,  to  boast.  Plato,  Socrates,  and  other  eminent  philosophers  and 
sages,  not  only  tolerated,  but  were  even  the  avowed  apologists  of 
polygamy,  and  its  train  of  vices.  The  legislation  of  Solon  was  soon 
disturbed  by  the  factious  tyranny  of  Pisistratus,  who  obtained  by 
force  of  arms  the  government  of  Athens.  This  usurpation  was  again 
succeeded  by  the  return  of  AlcmseonidaB,  who,  aided  by  a  Spartan 
army,  took  possession  of  the  city  in  510.  This  resulted  in  a  modi 
fication  of  the  Constitution.  Clisthenes,  with  a  view  of  quenching 
party  spirit  by  a  new  combination  of  the  citizens,  increased  their 
elective  powers. 

A  struggle  with  the  Spartans  and  the  allies,  who  sought  to  re 
establish  monarchy  in  Attica,  soon  ensued ;  and  yet  the  glorious  suc 
cess  of  the  republic,  in  this  her  first  effort  in  the  cause  of  liberty, 
gave  fresh  impulse  to  the  national  spirit.  It  was  that  which  induced 
Athens  to  unite  with  the  Asiatic  Greeks  in  the  cause  of  freedom, 
and  which  provoked  the  vengeance  of  the  Persians  ;  and  yet,  but  for 
that  daring  encounter,  Greece  would  probably  never  have  achieved 
that  greatness  and  renown  which  have  signalized  her  in  the  history  of 
the  world. 

It  is,  perhaps,  sufficient  for  our  purpose  thus  to  sketch  the  outline 
history  of  Sparta  and  Athens — the  two  most  important  of  the  Grecian 
States ;  the  others  being  of  subordinate  interest.  Greece  derives 
her  importance  among  the  nations  of  antiquity,  not  only  from  her  bril 
liant  successes  in  arms,  her  love  of  art  and  letters,  and  her  liberal  in 
stitutions,  but  also  from  her  numerous  colonies.  These  spread  along  the 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Black  seas.  The  history  of  early 
civilization,  therefore,  owes  much  to  the  efforts  of  Greece,  for  she 
carried  her  influence  east  and  west,  far  and  wide.  This  gives  us  the 
clue  to  the  sources  of  her  opulence,  supremacy,  and  splendor.  These 


42  A  VOICE   TO   AMEBICA. 

colonies,  numbering  over  a  hundred,  had  each  its  own  peculiar  form 
of  government, — showing  a  wonderful  variety  of  political  views  among 
these  people.  "Of  the  Greek  colonies,  the  most  ancient,  and  in 
many  respects  the  most  important,  were  those  along  the  western  coast 
of  Asia  Minor,  extending  from  the  Hellespont  to  the  boundary  of 
Cilicia.  Here,  ever  since  the  Trojan  war,  which  first  made  these 
countries  generally  known,  the  JSolians,  loniaus,  and  Dorians  had 
planted  settlements.  These  were  the  most  important  for  trade.  Here 
likewise,  in  the  native  country  of  Homer,  the  father  of  Grecian  civil 
ization,  of  Alcreus,  and  of  Sappho,  poesy,  both  epic  and  lyric,  ex 
panded  her  first  and  fairest  blossoms  ;  and  hence,  too,  the  Mother 
Country  herself  received  the  first  impulse  of  moral  and  cultivated 
tastes."* 

When  almost  all  the  Grecian  States  and  colonies  submitted  to  the 
Persian  yoke,  Sparta  and  Athens  alone  boldly  resisted  it.  The  ever- 
memorable  battle  of  Marathon  proved  not  only  the  superiority  of 
Athenian  heroism,  but  was  also  the  preservation  of  Grecian  liberty. 
After  the  fall  of  Miltiades,  the  history  of  Athens  becomes  that  of  emi 
nent  generals  or  demagogues  :  Themistocles  and  Aristides  were  the 
real  founders  of  the  power  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  former,  in  suc 
cessfully  accomplishing  what  Miltiades  failed  to  achieve,  made  Athens 
also  a  mighty  maritime  power.  While  the  rival  State  was  thus  ad 
vancing  in  power,  Sparta  suffered  from  the  insanity  of  one  of  her 
kings,  Cleomenes,  and  the  arrogance  of  another,  Leotychides.  To 
Themistocles  belongs  the  glory  of  frustrating  the  second  Persian  in 
vasion  of  Greece,  under  Xerxes.  However  weak  might  have  been 
the  national  leagues,  separately^ — being  bound  together  by  common 
interests  and  animated  by  the  controlling  spirit  of  the  Grecian  de 
liverer,  they  were  irresistible.  The  great  naval  victory  of  Salamis 
does  not  reflect  greater  glory  upon  the  Greeks,  than  did  the  gallant 
action  of  Leonidas  with  his  three  hundred  Spartans  :  yet,  as  the  plan 
for  the  conduct  of  these  engagements  originated  with  Themistocles, 
the  pre-eminent  merit  of  their  success  is  to  be  alone  ascribed  to  his 
*  Ilceren's  Ancient  Researches. 


SPAETA  AND   ATHENS.  43 

statesmanship  and  military  skill.  Further  successes  by  the  battles  of 
Plattea  on  the  land,  and  of  Mycale  at  sea,  ending  in  the  destruction 
of  the  Persian  fleet,  expelled  forever  from  the  shores  of  Greece  that 
mighty  foe. 

Sparta  at  this  time  acquired  a  temporary  ascendency,  yet  soon  the 
command  was  transferred  to  Athens  ;  and  not  only  was  this  the  oc 
casion  of  jealousy  between  these  States,  but  it  also  had  a  decided 
influence  on  all  the  subsequent  relations  of  Greece.  Then  follows 
about  half  a  century  of  eminent  prosperity  to  Athens :  far  different 
was  it  with  Sparta ;  there  rude  customs  and  laws  arrested  the  develop 
ment  of  genius ;  there  men  were  taught  to  die  for  their  country, 
while  in  Athens  they  learned  to  live  for  it.  The  loss  of  Themistocles 
was  supplied  by  Cimon,  who  protracted  the  war  against  the  Persians 
in  order  to  maintain  the  union  of  the  States ;  while  the  death  of 
Aristides  and  the  banishment  by  ostracism  of  Cimon,  concurred  in 
elevating  Pericles  to  the  head  of  affairs,  who  for  forty  years  swayed 
Athens,  without  either  being  archon  or  member  of  the  Areopagus. 
His  administration  was  evidently  of  the  democratic  character,  as  that 
of  his  predecessor  was  that  of  the  aristocratic. 

The  idea  of  a  perfect  equality  among  the  Grecian  States  is  proved 
to  have  been  chimerical,  since  the  minor  independencies  were 
swayed  by  the  more  powerful ;  and  even  between  these — Sparta  and 
Athens — an  almost  uninterrupted  strife  for  supremacy  existed.  Sparta 
was  now  doomed  to  be  abased  before  the  great  Theban  general, 
Epaminondas.  In  her  distress,  Sparta  formed  an  alliance  with  Athens ; 
while  Thebes  entered  into  a  compact  with  Persia,  A  sanguinary 
struggle  between  Sparta  and  Thebes  left  Greece  but  an  independence 
proceeding  from  enervation ;  yet  at  the  veiy  time  of  the  growing 
power  of  Macedonia  under  Philip,  she  madly  plunged  into  another 
devastating  civil  war  of  ten  years'  duration,  known  as  the  Phocian 
war.  "  The  treasures  of  Delphi  circulating  in  Greece,  were  as  inju 
rious  to  the  country  as  the  ravages  which  it  underwent.  A  war 
springing  out  of  private  passions,  fostered  by  bribes  and  subsidiary 
troops,  and  terminated  by  the  interference  of  foreign  powers,  was 


44  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

exactly  what  was  requisite  for  annihilating  the  s'canty  remains  of  mo 
rality  and  patriotism  still  existing  in  Greece."* 

The  very  first  advance  of  Philip  was  a  premonition  of  the  fate  of 
Greece,  although  the  eloquence  of  Demosthenes  warded  it  off  until 
the  second  invasion.  The  battle  of  Chaeronea  was  the  commence 
ment  of  the  Macedonian  ascendency  over  the  Grecian  republics. 
The  history  of  Greece,  from  the  accession  of  Alexander  of  Macedon 
until  the  final  subjection  to  the  Roman  power,  it  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  detail.  At  the  decease  of  Alexander,  Sparta  had  been  humiliated 
by  defeat ;  while  Athens  remained  the  first  State  in  Greece.  Fre 
quent  revolutions,  civil  commotions,  and  State  intrigues  and  crimes, 
mark  her  declining  career.  While  Greece  was  thus  passing  into  her 
decadence,  Roman  strategy  and  Roman  valor  were  striving  for  the 
transfer  of  the  supremacy.  Rome,  taking  advantage  of  the  disorder 
caused  by  the  frequent  factions  and  feuds  which  occurred  between 
the  Achseans  and  Sparta,  or  Messene,  conquered  Macedonia ;  and  at 
the  sack  of  Corinth,  the  light  of  Grecian  freedom  finally  vanished. 

Of  all  the  great  nations  of  antiquity,  none,  perhaps,  boasts  of  such 
a  rapid  and  brilliant  career  as  Greece ;  and  her  decline  was  as  strangely 
sudden.  It  may  well  be  asked,  whence  came  the  efflorescence  of 
Grecian  mind  in  the  age  of  Pericles  ?  What  was  the  element  of 
power  that  caused  a  handful  of  Greeks  to  overmaster  the  proud  chiv 
alry  of  the  Persians  ?  what  the  mighty  spell  which  made  the  Hel 
lenic  arms  the  terror  of  the  surrounding  nations, — and  won  such 
brilliant  triumphs  at  Marathon,  Salamis,  and  Platsea,  as  to  fill  all 
Greece  with  the  exultant  shouts  of  Liberty,  and  blazon  the  scroll  of 
history  with  the  records  of  heroic  glory  ?  Yet  was  her  triumph  as 
brief  as  it  was  brilliant.  In  a  single  generation,  Grecian  Liberty 
readied  its  culmination,  and  in  another  century,  its  overthrow.  The 
conflicting  and  diversified  character  of  Grecian  society  suggests  a 
clue.  Hers  was  a  social  amalgam  :  all  the  gradations  of  wealth  and 
poverty,  as  well  as  liberty  and  oppression,  were  among  its  elements. 
Hence  feud  and  faction,  as  well  as  military  despotism,  were  among 

*  Ileoren. 


SPAUTA   AXD    ATHENS,  45 

the  disturbing  causes  of  the  public  weal.  It  has  been  eloquently 
said,  that  Attic  wisdom,  Theban  hardihood,  and  Spartan  valor,  could 
not  combine  to  save 'her;  that  very  army  which  Greece  had  bred 
and  nourished,  to  reduce  oriental  pride,  was  turned,  vulture-like,  upon 
herself.  Thus  Greece,  with  her  battlements  and  towers,  her  glorious 
triumphs  in  arts  and  arras,  is  hurled  headloog  from  her  giddy  height, 
— a  parricide, — at  once  the  shame  and  pity  of  the  world  ! 

"  When  Greece  with  Greece, 
Embroil'd  with  foul  contention, 'fought  no  more 
For  common  glory  and  for  common  weal ; 
But  false  to  freedom,  sought  to  quell  the  fire, 
Broke  the  firm  hand  of  peace  and  sacred  love 
That  lent  the  whole  irrefragable  force, 
And  as  around  the  partial  trophy  blushed, 
Prepared  the  way  for  total  overthrow.'1* 

The  Commonwealths  of  Greece  were  generally  the  scenes  of  popu 
lar  commotion, — the  tyranny  of  one  part  oftthe  people  over  the  other, 
or  of  usurping  demagogues  over  the  whole.  Pericles,  the  noblest, 
perhaps,  of  his  class  the  world  has  ever  seen,  was  yet  a  demagogue. 
He  sacrificed  the  last  conservative  institution  of  Athens  for  the 
advancement  of  his  own  political  power, — the  dictatorship.  "  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  Athenian  democracy  abused  its  absolutism, 
and  that  the  Athenian  State  made  an  unjust  use  of  its  supremacy 
over  the  allies  ;  and  thus  viewed,  there  is  some  truth  in  the  assertion 
.of  Isocrates,  that  the  dominion  of  the  sea  was  the  source  of  all  the 
misery  of  Athens  and  Greece.  But  it  is  not  fair  to  confine  our  views 
to  the  abuse  :  what  form  of  government,  or  what  State,  ever  effected 
so  much  in  the  same  space  of  time  for  humanity,  as  Athens  and  its 
democracy,  during  the  brief  period  of  their  meridian  glory  ?  Peri 
cles,  Phidias,  Polygnotus,  Sophocles,  Socrates,  Plato,  Demosthenes, 
were  the  children  of  the  democracy ;  and  truly  great  must  the  public 
spirit  of  that  nation  have  been,  which  could  foster,  encourage,  and 
develop  the  genius  capable  of  achieving  their  mighty  deeds."  f 

*  Thomson.  t  Tavlor's  Nat.  Hist,  of  Society. 

3*    * 


46  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

Although  the  age  of  Pericles  was  the  age  of  glory  to  Greece,  yet 
it  was  then,  as  Pliny  remarks,  that  Greece  lost  her  freedom ;  for  then 
she  lost  her  virtue,  and  with  it  her  love  of  art.  Shall  we  not  heed 
the  admonitory  teaching  of  an  eminent  classic  historian,*  when  he 
affirms  that  the  occasion  of  the  Peloponnes.ian  war— the  direst  civil 
calamity  that  befel  Greece — was  the  alUrjcd  mutual  rupture  of  the 
thirty  years'  league  between  Athens  and  Lacedaemon ;  but  that  the 
true  cause  was,  the  jealousy  of  the  latter  at  the  growing  superiority 
of  Athens.  Intestine  feuds  are  the  most  implacable  and  deadly  in 
their  influence  and  effects,  and  therefore  most  sedulously  to  be  guarded 
against  in  a  confederacy  of  free  States.  A  spirit  of  rivalry  or  jeal 
ousy,  resulting  from  differences  of  opinion  and  local  interest,  are 
among  the  evils  to  which  they  arc  exposed.  The  vaulting  ambition 
of  Pericles  for  territorial  acquisitions,  is  an  illustration  of  this. 

Webster,  referring  to  Greece,  observes:  "Political  science  seems 
never  to  have  extended  to  their  contemplation  of  a  system,  which 
should  be  adequate  to  the  government  of  a  great  nation  upon  princi 
ples  of  liberty.  They  were  accustomed  only  to  the  contemplation  of 
small  republics,  and  were  led  to  consider  an  augmented  population  as 
incompatible  with  free  institutions."  They  sought  to  evect  systems  of 
more  perfect  civil  liberty,  but  the  light  of  the  moral  and  mental 
world  of  their  time  was  not  to  be  compared  with  that  when  our  fore 
fathers  did  the  same. 

The  Peloponnesian  war  was  succeeded  by  those  protracted  disasters 
and  civil  commotions  which  tended  to  reduce  and  exhaust  the  Greeks, 
and  to  destroy  that  bond  of  union  once  the  palladium  of  their  strength 
and  glory.  It  was  at  this  crisis  that  Philip  of  Macedon,  taking  ad 
vantage  of  their  disorder,  made  himself  master  of  all  Greece,  by  his 
coiwjuest  at  Chaeronea. 

Grecian  history  has  been  presented  in  three  aspects :  that  of  Tlie- 
mistocles,  in  which  the  statesman  was  subordinate  to  the  general ; 
that  of  Pericles,  in  which  the  general  was  subordinate  to  the  states 
man ;  and  that  of  Demosthenes,  in  which  the  statesman  acted  indo- 

*  Thncvdides. 


SPAKTA  AND   ATHENS.  47 

pendently  of  the  general.  The  first  is  distinguished  by  its  love  of 
military  glory ;  the  last,  by  its  marvellous  displays  of  Grecian  elo 
quence—for  it  was  the  age  of  the  ten  famous  Athenian  orators : 

"  Those  ancients,  whose  resistless  eloquence 
Wielded  at  will  that  fierce  democracy, 
Shook  the  arsenal,  and  ful  mined  over  Greece 
To  Macedon  and  Artaxerxes'  throne."* 

The  golden  age  of  Grecian  heroism,  art,  and  eloquence,  was  from 
the  era  of  Solon  to  that  of  Alexander.  From  the  reign  of  Alexander 
to  the  extinction  of  taste  in  design  and  excellence  in  execution,  not  a 
single  name  is  recorded  worthy  of  note,  as  meriting  comparison  with 
the  masters  of  the  Grecian  republic.  The  same  applies  with  equal 
force  to  the  Augustan  age  of  Rome,  Homer's  great  epic  was  de 
signed  to  exhibit  the  ill  effects  of  division  in  a  confederate  power. 
Virgil,  on  the  contrary,  flattered  the  oppressor  of  his  country's  liberty, 
in  his  adulation  of  Augustus. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  political  liberty  may  consist  with  the 
culture  of  the  arts.  Even  the  rugged  Spartans  delighted,  for  a  time, 
to  embody  and  perpetuate  their  heroic  achievements,  by  the  chisel  of 
Bathycles ;  and  the  sacred  inclosure  of  Amyclce  is  no  less  memorable 
as  the  depository  of  the  earliest  creations  of  Grecian  sculpture. 

It  has  been  said  there  are  few  who,  if  asked  in  which  of  the  States 
of  antiquity  they  would  choose  their  own  lot  to  have  been  cast,  would 
not  name  Athens — since  nowhere  was  there  so  much  good,  because 
nowhere  was  there  so  much  freedom.  Yet  that  freedom  was  con 
stantly  jeopardized,  both  by  oligarchical  conspirators,  and  by  the 
tyranny  of  the  sovereign  people.  The  glories  of  Marathon  and  Sala- 
mis  are  obscured  when  we  remember  that  the  same  victories  which 
rescued  the  Athenian  freeman  but  riveted  the  fetters  of  the  Athenian 
bondsman.  These  two  factions  destroyed  her  greatest  man,  Socrates. 
The  altar  of  Athenian  liberty  is  overthrown,  and  its  ashes  poured  out, 
because  it  burnt  with  alien  fires.  Grecian  polity  differed  fronj  that  of 

*  Milton. 


A   VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

our  own  times.  It  was  far  less  expansive  and  comprehensive,  pertai  n- 
ing  merely  to  cities,  rather  than  States  or  territories.  We  possess 
little  in  common  with  the  politics  of  the  ancient  free  States.  Their 
circumstances  were  widely  dissimilar  to  ours,  while  theirs  was  a  pagan 
and  ours  a  Christian  faith.  Nor  can  the  virtues  or  the  vices  of  their 
age  excite  any  other  than  a  philosophic  interest.  Yet,  allowing  for 
this  difference  of  circumstances  and  condition,  there  is  exhibited 
much  that  is  suggestive  and  admonitory  to  be  gleaned  for  the  ad 
vantage  of  modern  times. 

Chcnevix  observes:  "It  was  in  Greece  that  mankind  began  the 
new  career  which  had  a  much  greater  affinity  to  true  civilization 
than  any  condition  of  society  that  could  have  been  previously  con 
ceived.  .  It  would  be  unjust  to  say  that  Asia,  though  luxurious,  was 
not  civilized ;  but  the  characteristics  of  civilization  in  that  continent 
were  so  weak  as  to  give  but  little  tincture  to  the  general  mind.  In 
Greece,  the  best  mode  of  social  progress  became  predominant,  and 
may  be  traced  in  every  province  of  thought,  as  sensuality  gave  place 
to  intellect,  and  men  found  that  the  powers  and  faculties  of  each 
might  be  useful  to  the  whole  community."  The  great  conservative 
principle  or  characteristic  of  civilization,  as  opposed  to  luxury,  is 
combination, — the  conviction  that  more  may  be  obtained  by  unity  of 
design  and  concert  of  action,  than  by  the  divided  wills  of  multitudes, 
however  numerous.  He  continues :  "The  difficulties  which  the  Greeks 
had  to  overcome  sufficiently  taught  this  lesson,  and  turned  their  social 
career  into  the  path  of  true  civilization.  It  Avas  thus  that  they  be 
came  the  parents  of  European  advancement,  and  that  the  legacies 
which  they  liavo  bequeathed  romain  at  this  day  among  its  richest 
treasures. 

"  Since  the  independence  of  the  United  States,  the  North  Ameri 
cans  principally  followed  the  path  which  had  been  traced  out  by  their 
British  forefathers ;  and  they  were  induced  to  continue  in  it  because 
they  had  many  difficulties  to  oppose.  But  those  difficulties,  as  in 
ancient dreece,  bespoke  abundance  more  than  poverty;  and  promised 
such  easy  fertility  and  greatness,  that  it  may  be  questioned,  nohvith- 


SPARTA  AND  ATHENS.  49 

standing  the  remembrance  of  past  examples,  whether  civilization  or 
luxury  will  finally  predominate.  But  this  much  may  safely  be  con 
jectured  :  Should  the  social  improvement  of  the  United  States  termi 
nate  in  luxury,  their  luxury,  like  their  vanity,  will  be  much  more 
European  than  Asiatic."'* 

Another  authority  remarks  that  histoiy  abounds  in  proofs  that 
almost  all  the  good  which  nations  have  possessed  is  to  be  attributed 
to  social  progress  ;  nearly  all  the  evil,  to  luxury.  "  It  was  by  the  cor 
ruption  of  civilization  and  the  ascendency  of  luxury,  that  the  fall  of 
Greece  was  caused, — that  the  armies  which  had  triumphed  under  the 
banners  of  intellect,  were  defeated  when  summoned  away  from  their 
pleasures.  It  was  because  the  influence  of  Lycurgus  over  the  small 
republic  of  his  birth  had  banished  from  it  all  the  means  of  sensuality, 
that  the  power  of  Sparta,  her  domestic  tranquillity,  her  good  order 
and  virtues,  lasted  from  the  time  of  her  lawgiver  till  the  Achcean 
league ;  that,  during  five  centuries,  she  was  paramount  in  Greece,  by 
her  abstinence.  It  was  immediately  following  the  Periclean  age — 
which  was  that  of  Grecian  luxury — that  her  moral  decline  com 
menced,  in  the  age  of  Philip,  or  corruption,  when  her  fall  was  com 
pleted.  By  civilization  she  made  conquests ;  by  her  luxury  she  was 
herself  overthrown." 

Bancroft  observes :  "  The  democracy  of  Athens,  with  all  the  imper 
fections  in  every  part  of  its  public  service,  with  the  abuses  attending 
its  finances,  and  the  corruption  which  finally  turned  the  elective  fran 
chise  into  a  source  of  personal  revenue,  maintains  its  dignity  in  the 
eyes  of  the  world ;  for  there  the  elements  of  civil  liberty  were  first 
called  into  action.  No  tongue  can  adequately  praise  many  of  the 
results  of  that  State ;  and  it  would  also  be  difficult  to  display  the  de 
ficiencies  in  its  organization,  and  the  gross  injustice  of  its  foreign 
policy.  Our  own  confederacy  does  not  more  surpass  the  Grecian  in 
the  extent  of  territory  over  which  its  liberties  are  diffused,  than  in  the 
excellence  of  the  details  of  its  laws." 

The  admirable  maxim  of  Isocrates  is  worthy  the  attention  of  mod- 
*  Chenevix  on  Nat,  Char.,  1832. 


50  A  VOICE   TO   AMEEICA. 

ern  times,  because  it  requires,  as  the  foundation  of  national  prosperity 
and  obedience  to  law,  the  establishment  of  the  religious  principle,  as 
the  surest  guarantee  for  both.  His  advice  to  Demonicus  respecting  a 
citizen  was :  "  First  exercise  piety  towards  God,  not  only  in  sacrifices, 
but  also  in  the  preservation  of  oaths ;  for  the  former  indeed  may  be 
an  indication  of  abundant  wealth,  but  the  latter  is  a  proof  of  integrity 
of  character."  The  growing  influence  and  contending  interests  of 
political  parties  in  their  struggles  for  ascendency,  may  superinduce 
the  corruptions  and  treacheries  which  tarnish  our  national  glory  and 
jeopardize  our  national  stability ;  and  thus  we  are  in  danger  of  re- 
enacting  the  political  immoralities  and  crimes  of  the  ancient  repub 
lics — repeating  the  history  and  calamities  of  those  splendid  yet 
mournful  examples  of  the  past.  The  prerogatives  of  the  Federal 
government  must  be  maintained  inviolate — the  majesty  of  its  author 
ity  supreme.  In  the  multiplication  of  its  constituent  States  there  is 
great  tendency  to  a  reduction  of  the  central  constitutional  power.  In 
the  desire  for  increasing  territorial  acquisitions,  and  a  thirst  for  mili 
tary  renown,  the  harmony  of  the  confederacy  may  also  be  fatally  dis 
turbed,  and  anarchy  usurp  its  place.  An  instance  of  this  we  have 
seen  in  the  history  of  the  Grecian  republics.  Severe  and  onerous 
military  services  were  sustained  by  the  warlike  and  heroic  citizens  of 
those  ancient  States,  in  consequence  of  this  fostering,  by  the  govern 
ment,  of  an  excessive  desire  for  military  power  and  conquest.  A 
military  despot  is  surely  no  friend  to  national  or  civil  liberty ;  and 
wherever  the  demagogue  can  take  advantage  of  such  social  disorder, 
lie  is  sure  to  do  so.  It  may  be  well  to  repeat  the  warning  given  to 
us  in  the  brilliant  but  terrible  example  of  Athens, — it  teaches  us 
that  an  insatiate  lust  of  territory  marks  the  overthrow  of  a  free 
State. 

According  to  the  political  'creed  of  Aristotle,  the  Grecian  State  was 
antecedent  to  the  individual  citizen.  He  therefore  possessed  no  inhe 
rent  personal  rights,  and  was  only  allowed  such  immunities  as  were 
conferred  by  the  State  itself.  Our  commonwealth  acknowledges  an 
opposite  rule.  Both  extremes  are  equally  fatal  to  the  liberties  of  a 


SPARTA  AND   ATHENS.  51 

democracy;  the  one  tending  to  an  oligarchy,  the  other  to  lawless 
despotism. 

Bulwer  remarks  :  "  As  in  despotisms,  a  coarse  and  sensual  luxury, 
once  established,  rots  away  the  vigor  and  manhood  of  a  conquering 
people,  so  in  this  intellectual  people  (the  Athenians)  it  was  the  luxury 
of  the  intellect  which  gradually  enervated  the  great  spirit  of  the 
victor  race  of  Marathon  and  Salamis,  and  called  up  generations  of 
eloquent  talkers  and  philosophical  dreamers  from  the  earlier  age  of 
active  freemen,  restless  adventurers,  and  hardy  warriors.  The  spirit 
of  poetry,  or  the  pampered  indulgence  of  certain  faculties  to  the 
prejudice  of  others,  produced  in  a  whole  people  what  it  never  fails 
to  produce  in  the  individual :  it  unfitted  them — just  as  they  grew  up 
into  manhood  exposed  to  severer  struggles  than  their  youth  had  un 
dergone — for  the  stern  and  practical  demands  of  life ;  and  suffered 
the  love  of  the  Beautiful  to  subjugate  or  soften  away  the  common 
knowledge  of  the  Useful.  Genius  itself  became  a  disease,  and  Poetry 
assisted  towards  the  euthanasia  of  the  Athenians." 

The  fundamental  essentials  to  the  security  of  a  free  State,  are  reli 
gion,  virtue,  and  intelligence  in  its  individual  citizens.  This  is  the 
palladium  of  her  strength,  and  the  augury  of  her  greatness  and  glory. 
These  three  great  weapons  of  our  strength  will  form  the  surest  bul 
wark  of  our  defence  against  the  evils  which  may  menace  our  national 
security,  arising  from  the  incessant  influx  of  foreign  immigration  and 
foreign  political  influence.  Before  the  vestal  purity  and  celestial  light 
of  virtue,  the  shades  of  ignorance,  superstition,  infidelity,  and  crime 
will  flee  away.  With,  the  true  -ight  of  Divine  revelation  for  our 
guide,  and  the  ample  experiences  of  the  past  for  our  instruction,  we 
may,  and  we  assuredly  ought  to  present  to  the  world,  not  a  mere 
problematical  experiment,  but  an  accredited  and  actual  illustration  of 
the  great  fact  of  a  mighty  nation  of  self-governed  freemen — a  specta 
cle  "  grander,  vaster,  and  more  majestic  than  any  thing  ancient  states 
men  ever  dreamed  of."  Is  such  a  brilliant  immortality  to  be  conferred 
upon  these  United  States  ? 

With  the  lapse  of  centuries,  the  lustre  of  Grecian  intellect  has 


52  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

lost  none  of  its  splendor.  It  still  towers  in  Olympian  grandeur  over 
all  the  boasted  achievements  of  intervening  ages.  Her  proud  tro 
phies  have  defied  the  assaults  of  time ;  and,  whether  in  sculpture, 
eloquence,  or  in  song — in  military  prowess,  heroic  virtue,  or  in  her 
love  of  liberty — her  name  has  .ever  been  a  watchword  on  the  earth. 
Not  only  was  Greece  the  home  of  the  graces,  but  it  was  here  that 
Freedom  first  erected  her  mountain-throne.  It  was  the  triumph  of 
mind  that  gave  the  pre-eminent  glory  to  Greece ;  and  Greece  was  the 
glory  of  the  earth.  What  a  galaxy  of  great  men  she  gave  to  the 
world — Pericles,  Epaminondas,  Socrates,  Aristotle,  Demosthenes,  Ho- 
mer,  Plato,  and  Alexander — Titans  among  the  race  !  "What  a  wealth 
of  learning  have  they  bequeathed  to  mankind  !  Classic  Greece  was 
the  great  academy  of  science  and  song — our  storehouse  of  philosophy, 
ethics,  poetry,  sculpture,  aesthetics,  and  architecture,  as  well  as  civili 
zation  and  refinement.  She  was  the  first  of  the  nations  of  antiquity 
to  assert  the  supremacy  of  intellectual  empire.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  her  very  name  should  have  become  talismanic,  and 
that  her  sages,  philosophers,  and  poets  should  still  be  regarded  as  our 
models,  and  their  wisdom  deemed  oracular.  Poetry  still  recognizes 
her  great  high  priest  in  Homer,  Philosophy  her  Socrates,  History  her 
Thucydides,  Eloquence  her  Demosthenes,  Art  her  Phidias,  Justice  her 
Aristides,  and  Heroism  her  Leonidas.  While,  therefore,  we  do  hom 
age  to  Attic  models  in  art,  poetry,  ethics,  and  philosophy,  shall  wo 
neglect  the  warning  which  her  political  errors  and  immoralities  sug 
gest? 


THL    FALL    OF    ROME. 

4  Alas  I  the  lofty  city  1  and  alas  I 
The  trebly  hundred  triumphs." 

CHILDE  HAROLD. 

THE  seven-hilled  city  of  the  Caesars — once  the  capital  of  the 
world,— the  most  potent  and  the  most  opulent  of  the  nations  of 
antiquity, — with  her  august  pageants,  her  gorgeous  temples,  her 
triumphal  arches,  her  Coliseum,  her  Forum,  and  all  her  colossal 
achievements  in  arts  and  arms,  is  numbered  with  the  past.  All  that 
remains  of  her  eminent  glory,  is  a  splendid  ruin  —  a  mighty  and 
majestic  shrine,  attracting  pilgrim  feet  from  all  parts  of  the  earth. 
Her  towering  greatness,  with  her  almost  superhuman  virtues  and 
crimes,  lives  only  on  the  scroll  of  history — a  sublime  illustration  of 
human  power  and  human  weakness.  Of  all  the  voices  of  the  past, 
Rome's  eventful  story  is  the  most  marvellous,  the  most  memorable, 
and  the  most  eloquent. 

"Rome!  thine  imperial  brow 
.          Never  shall  rise. 

What  hast  thou  left  thee  now  ? 

Thou  hast  thy  skies  ! 
Thou  hast  the  sunset's  glow, 
Rome !  for  thy  dower — 
Flashing,  tall  cypress  bow, 
Temple  and  tower !" 

The  history  of  Rome  exhibits  a  strange  compound  of  conflicting 
elements,  of  human  character.  It  abounds  with  instances  of  the 
generous  and  the  heroic, — the  cruel  and  the  base, — the  patriotic  and 
tho  perfidious.  Hers  were  the  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty — of 


54:  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

ignorance  and  learning.  Rome  was  the  scone  of  the  direst  calami 
ties  and  the  most  brilliant  triumphs.  At  one  time  devastated  by  a 
fearful  plague,  Avhich  continued  for  more  than  two  years,  destroying, 
in  a  single  day,  some  two  thousand  human  beings ;  at  another,  the 
city  was  in  great  part  consumed  by  fire,  kindled  by  lightning, — while 
these  calamities  were  followed  by  famine.  The  history  of  her  gov 
ernment  is,  for  the  most  part,  one  of  despotic  cruelty,  strategy,  and 
crime — most  of  her  rulers  being  corrupt  and  treacherous ;  yet  were 
there  among  them  men  of  heroic  and  noble  virtue. 

The  topography  of  Rome  may  be  thus  briefly  described  :  Situate 
on  the  bank  of  the  Tiber  (about  seventeen  miles  from  the  sea,  and 
near  its  junction  with  the  Arno),  the  city  was  built  on  seven  hills,  or 
insulated  heights,  divided  by  little  valleys.  These  hills  are  the  Capi- 
toline,  Palatine,  Coelius,  and  Aventine.  The  others  (Quirinal,  Vimi- 
nal,  and  Esquiline)  are  promontories,  jutting  out  towards  the  Tiber. 
The  Capitoline  being  so  precipitous  that  it  formed  a  natural  fortress, 
it  became  the  citadel  of  Rome. 

A  reference  to  the  map  of  Italy  will  best  exhibit  its  physical 
geography.  It  will  be  seen  that,  like  Greece.  Italy  is  made  up  of 
numerous  valleys,  pent  up  between  high  hills,  each  forming  a  countiy 
and  political  community  to  itself.  There  is  the  Apennine  range, 
stretching  from  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Alps  across  Italy,  to 
the  edge  of  the  Adriatic,  thus  separating  Italy  proper  from  Cisalpine 
Gaul.  Between  them  and  the  Alpine  semicircle  which  forms  the 
northern  boundary,  is  inclosed  a  wide  plain,  open  onlv  on  the  east  to 
the  sea.  One  great  river  flows  through  its  whole  extent,  being  fed, 
from  the  north  and  south,  by  numberless  streams.  Of  course,  this 
well-watered  plain  was  filled  with  flourishing  cities,  and  often  con 
tended  for  by  successive  invaders.  The  geographical  features  of  Italy 
proper  strikingly  accord  with  its  political  divisions.  "  It  is  not  one 
simple  ridge  of  mountains,  leaving  a  broad  belt  of  level  country  on 
either  side,  but,  as  it  were,  a  backbone,  thickly  set  with  diverging 
spines  of  unequal  length,  running  out  from  the  main  ridge,  some 
parallel  to  the  backbone  itself;  in  which  latter  case,  the  interval  be- 


THE   FALL    OF   ROME.  55 

tween  their  base  and  the  Mediterranean  has  been  broken  up  by  vol 
canic  agency ;  e.  g.,  Vesuvius,  and  the  Alban  Hills,  ten  miles  from 
Rome."*  We  thus  perceive  the  force  of  the  remark  of  Napoleon, 
that  Rome  was  the  spot  best  suited  to  be  the  capital  of  its  empire. 

The  early  history  of  Rome,  like  that  of  Athens,  is  based  upon 
tradition,  made  up  in  part  of  poetic  fiction.  The  line  of  demarcation 
between  what  is  mythical  and  purely  historic  truth,  it  is  difficult  to 
determine.  This  is,  however,  less  essential  to  our  purpose,  since  we 
have  to  do  with  the  later  times  of  the  Republic.  During  the  first 
two  centuries  or  more  subsequent  to  its  foundation,  the  city  of  Rome 
was  under  the  rule  of  governors,  or  kings,  of  limited  power  and  pre 
rogatives.  Its  constitution  originally  somewhat  resembled  that  of 
England  about  the  times  of  the  three  first  Edwards.  The  governing 
body  consisted  of  the  three  classes  or  tribes,  divided  into  thirty  curiae, 
ten  in  each  tribe.  Their  assembly  was  called  Comitia  Curiata. 
Besides  this  general  body  of  citizens,  there  was  a  select  council, 
called  the  Senate,  originally  comprised  of  one  hundred  chief  men  of 
the  Ramnes.  After  the  union  of  the  Sabines,  one  hundred  of  the 
Titienses  were  admitted ;  and  though  the  Luceres  always  had  votes 
in  the  general  Comitia,  yet  they  had  no  representatives  in  the  Senate 
till  the  time  of  Tarquinius  Priscus,  who  added  a  third  hundred,  called 
Patres  Minarum  Gentium.  The  reign  of  this  monarch  is  the  Etruscan 
period  of  Roman  history.  The  buildings  above  and  under  ground, 
the  religion,  the  games  then  introduced,  have  all  of  them  an  Etruscan 
stamp.  The  next  king,  the  sixth,  was  Servius  Tullius,  who  belonged 
neither  to  a  royal  nor  patrician  family,  and  who  promoted  Latin 
and  Grecian  customs.  He  revised  the  constitution,  having  brought 
together,  in  some  degree,  the  Populus  and  the  Plebs,  and  made  all  of 
them  vote  according  to  their  property,  in  classes  and  centuries.  The 
last  king  ^Yas  Tarquinius  Superbus,  who,  with  his  family,  was  ban 
ished  ;  and  with  him  ended  the  monarchy,  having  lasted,  according 
to  the  legends,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  years.  Then  followed 
the  establishment  of  the  Republic,  at  the  head  of  which  were  two 

*  Arnold. 


56  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

consuls — L.  Jimius  Brutus  and  Tarquinius  Collatinus.     The  consular 
government  was  annually  elected. 

The  struggle  for  liberty,  in  which  the  new  Republic  was  engaged 
with  the  Etrusci  and  Latins,  contributed  to  arouse  that  republican 
spirit  which  subsequently  became  the  main  feature  of  Roman  char 
acter.  The  party  which  had  deposed  the  ruling  family,  now  took 
wholly  into  their  own  hands  the  helm  of  state ;  and  the  oppression  of 
these  aristocrats  became  at  length  so  galling,  that,  after  the  lapse  of  a 
few  years,  it  gave  rise  to  a  sedition  of  the  Plebs, — the  consequence  of 
which  was  the  establishment  of  annually  elected  Presidents  of  the 
People  (Tribuni  Plebis).  Just  previous  to  this  (temp.  508  B.  C.), 
took  place  the  first  commercial  treaty  with  Carthage,  in  which  Rome 
appears  as  a  free  State,  although  not  as  yet  sovereign  of  all  Latium. 
The  political  constitution  of  Rome  received  further  development  in 
the  contests  which  now  arose  between  the  popular  presidents  and  the 
hereditary  nobility.  The  Tribunes,  instead  of  confining  themselves  to 
the  defence  of  the  people  from  the  oppression  of  the  nobles,  soon 
began  to  act  as  aggressors,  which  subsequently  resulted  in  a  com 
plete  equalization  of  rights.  An  illustration  of  this  state  of  things 
is  afforded  by  the  trial  of  Coriolanus. 

The  more  equitable  distribution  of  the  lands  obtained  by  conquest, 
among  the  poorer  classes,  was  suggested  by  the  ambitious  attempts  of 
Cassius.  The  well-known  code  of  the  "  Twelve  Tables"  confirmed  the 
ancient  institutions,  and  was  in  part  completed  by  the  adoption  o! 
the  laws  of  the  Greek  Republics,  especially  those  of  Athens.  Yet,  as 
the  commissioners  appointed  to  draw  up  the  laws  were  exclusively 
Patricians,  an  occasion  was  given  for  usurpation,  which  could  be  frus 
trated  only  by  a  sedition  of  the  people.  By  the  laws  of  the  "Twelve 
Tables,"  the  legal  relations  of  the  citizens  were  the  same  for  all ;  ye! 
that  code  contained  little  or  nothing  in  relation  to  any  peculiar  con 
stitution  of  the  State,  while  the  government  not  only  remained  in  th« 
hands  of  the  aristocracy,  who  were  in  possession  of  all  offices,  but, 
the  prohibition  of  marriage,  according  to  the  new  laws,  of  Patricians 
and  Plebeians,  interposed  an  insurmountable  barrier  between  the  tw-.> 


THE   FALL   OF   ROME.  57 

classes.  The  consequence  of  this  was,  renewed  attacks  by  the  people 
upon  the  privileged  Patricians,  especially  as  the  power  of  the  popular 
leaders  was  now  not  only  renewed,  but  even  augmented — the  only 
limit  to  their  authority  being  their  unanimity  of  decision. 

New  dissensions  arose  between  the  Patricians  and  Plebeians,  one 
of  the  causes  of  which  was  the  exclusive  participation  of  the  former 
.in  the  consulship,  of  which  the  Tribunes  demanded  the  abolition. 
This  right  of  admission  was  not,  however,  extended  to  the  Plebeians 
till  after  a  struggle  annually  renewed  for  eighty  years.  Meanwhile, 
Rome  was  engaged  in  petty  wars  with  the  neighboring  federate  cities. 
These  contests  continued  almost  uninterruptedly,  and  arose  out  of  the 
oppression,  real  or  imaginary,  which  she  practised  upon  them.  The 
cities  sought  every  occasion  for  asserting  their  independence;  and 
the  consequent  struggles  must  have  depopulated  Rome,  had  not  that 
evil  been  diverted  by  the  policy  of  increasing  the  complement  of 
citizens  in  admitting  the  freedmen,  and  not  unfrequently  even  the 
conquered,  to  the  enjcTyment  of  civic  privileges.*  Little  as  these 
feuds,  abstractedly  considered,  deserve  attention,  they  become  of  high 
interest,  inasmuch  as  they  were  not  only  the  means  by  which  the 
nation  was  trained  to  war,  but  they  also  led  to  the  foundation  of 
that  senatorial  power,  whose  important  consequences  will  be  exhibited 
hereafter. 

The  last  of  these  wars  was  that  against  Veii,  the  richest  city  in 
Etruria.  The  siege  of  that  place,  which  lasted  nearly  ten  years 
(404-395  B.C.),  gave  rise  to  the  introduction,  among  the  Roman 
military,  of  winter  campaigning,  and  of  pay.  Thus,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  prosecution  of  wars  more  distant  and  protracted  became 
possible ;  while,  on  the  other,  the  consequences  were,  increased  taxa 
tion.  About  this  time,  Rome  was  reduced  to  ashes  by  the  Gauls, 
who  pressed  out  of  Northern  Italy  through  Etruria,  and  possessed 
themselves  of  the  city,  the  Capitol  only  excepted.  One  of  the  chief 
heroes  of  this  period  was  Carnillus,  the  deliverer  of  Rome,  who  laid 
a  double  claim  to  the  gratitude  of  his  native  city,  by  overruling,  after 

*  Heereu, 


58  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

his  victory,  the  proposal  of  a  general  migration  to  Veii.  Scarcely 
was  Rome  rebuilt,  ere  the  former  feuds  revived,  springing  out  of  the 
poverty  of  the  people,  induced  by  the  oppressive  military  taxation. 
Licinius,  the  Tribune,  at  this  juncture  having  decreed  that  no  indi 
vidual  should  hold  more  than  a  certain  amount  of  the  national  lands, 
the  people  became  eligible  equally  with  the  nobles  to  the  office  of 
consul.  The  dictatorship,  censorship,  praetorship,  and  even  the  priest 
hood,  quickly  followed,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Thus  political  equality 
was  conferred  upon  the  Plebeians,  with  the  Patricians ;  and  the  differ 
ences  between  them  ceased,  for  a  time,  to  form  opposing  political 
parties. 

We  now  approach  the  true  heroic  age  of  Rome.  This  was  intro 
duced  by  the  Samnite  war — an  engagement  for  more  important  than 
any  in  which  Rome  had  previously  been  involved.  In  former  con 
tests  her  object  had  been  to  sustain  her  supremacy  over  her  immedi 
ate  neighbors ;  but  in  these  latter  wars,  which  continued  for  half  a 
century,  she  opened  a  way  for  the  subjugation  of  Italy,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  her  future  greatness.  In  this  period  commenced  the 
practical  illustration  of  the  leading  ideas  of  Rome  upon  the  political 
relations  in  which  she  placed  the  States  and  cities  she  subdued. 
After  the  subjection  of  the  Sammies,  Rome,  wishing  to  confirm  her 
dominion  in  lower  Italy,  became  entangled  in  war  with  the  Taren- 
tines,  who  secured  the  alliance  with  Pyrrhus.  In  the  first  two  battles 
with  this  foreign  prince,  Rome  was  unsuccessful.  In  a  subsequent 
engagement  at  Beneventum,  he  was  defeated,  and  compelled  to  evac 
uate  Italy,  leaving  a  garrison  at  Tarentum.  That  city  soon  afterwards 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  whose  dominion  became  thereby 
extended  to  the  extremity  of  lower  Italy. 

The  early  expedient  of  Roman  colonization  served  the  double  pur 
pose  of  relieving  the  capital  of  its  pauper  population,  and  of  peopling 
her  captured  cities,  as  well  as  forming  garrisons.  This  colonial  sys 
tem  took  its  rise  in  the  Samnite  war,  and  ultimately  embraced  the 
whole  of  Italy.  Connected  with  it  was  the  construction  of  military 
highways,  of  which  the  Via  Appia,  constructed  B.  C.  312,  was  one, 


THE   FALL   OF   HOME.  59 

and  which,  to  this  day,  remains  the  lasting  monument  of  Roman 
greatness.  These  colonies  were  not  invested  with  the  privileges  of 
Roman  citizenship ;  they  possessed  their  own  civic  government,  but 
had  no  share  in  either  the  Comitia  or  magistracies  of  Rome.  They 
were  obliged,  however,  to  furnish  tribute  and  auxiliary  troops,  and 
were  in  other  respects  amenable  to  the  Roman  prsefects  or  magis 
trates. 

The  constitution  of  Rome  was  at  first  essentially  democratic,  in 
asmuch  as  it  conferred  an  equality  of  rights  and  immunities  both  for 
the  poor  and  the  opulent.  It  was  yet  a  democracy  so  modified  by 
ingeniously  contrived  expedients,  that,  even  considering  the  warlike 
character  of  the  people,  it  seemed  well  defended  against  the  evils  of 
military  despotism  on  the  one  part,  and  popular  discord  on  the  other. 
Without  specifying  in  detail  its  various  features,  it  may  suffice  to 
state  that  it  produced  a  senate,  which  at  this  epoch  was  the  first 
political  body  in  the  world.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  constitution 
was  in  great  part  the  result  of  experiment,  no  complete  charter  hav 
ing  ever  been  written. 

The  memorable  war  which  took  place  between  Rome  and  Carthage, 
and  which  lasted  twenty-three  years  (B.  C.  264-241),  although  it  cost 
her  much,  was  the  first  step  in  her  splendid  series  of  triumphs.  Con 
sidering  its  important  consequences,  with  the  great  heroes  enlisted  on 
both  sides,  as  well  as  the  vastness  of  the  struggle,  an  interest  attaches 
to  it,  surpassing  that  of  any  other  age.  The  occupation  of  Messina 
by  the  Romans  gave  rise  to  this  war ;  it  resulted  in  driving  the  Car 
thaginians  from  Sicily.  Thus  the  conquest  of  Carthage  gave  its 
pre-eminence  to  Rome.  No  monument  of  Carthage — the  stupen 
dous  rival  of  the  Romans — now  remains. to  point  out  the  ancient 
splendor  of  that  Republic.  That  city,  originally  founded  by  a  Ty- 
rian  colony  about  eight  centuries  prior  to  the  Christian  era,  became 
the  capital  of  a  powerful  Republic,  which  continued  upwards  of 
seven  centuries ;  during  which  time  it  controlled  the  commerce  of 
the  world.  Her  interval  of  peace,  which  lasted  seventy  years,  was 
the  epoch  of  her  glory — she  was  then  the  most  renowned  of  the  inde- 


60  A   VOICE   TO   AMEKICA. 

pendent  States  of  antiquity ;  but  the  love  of  conquest" was  the  pro 
curing  cause  of  her  ultimate  overthrow. 

When  the  Carthaginians  resolved  to  have  provinces  instead  of 
factories,  and  garrisons  instead  of  colonies,  a  large  force  became  ne 
cessary  in  order  to  keep  possession  of  the  conquered  lands.  From 
the  time  that  a  nation  of  merchants  becomes  a  nation  of  princes,  and 
exchanges  commercial  pursuits  for  territorial  possessions,  it  abandons 
its  proper  strength  for  alien  weakness,  and  fixes  the  limits  of  its  own 
duration.  The  spirit  of  party  and  faction  scarcely  appeared  in  Car 
thage,  until  after  the  Republic  had  yielded  to  the  trial  of  conquest, 
and  the  passion  for  territorial  aggrandizement.  The  strength  of  Car 
thage  in  the  war  with  Eome  depended  merely  on  its  mercenaries 
and  its  money :  it  was  founded  on  sand  and  gold-dust ;  when  the 
tide  of  fortune  turned,  both  were  swept  away.  There  were,  how 
ever,  other  elements  of  social  demoralization  among  the  Carthagi 
nians,  which  tended  in  no  small  degree  to  their  overthrow.  Their 
religion  allowed  the  horrid  rites  of  Moloch  :  they  attempted  to  pro 
pitiate  their  deities  by  human  sacrifices.  The  immolation  of  infants 
was  carried  to  a  fearful  extent,  even  by  their  infatuated  mothers. 
To  a  flagrant  and  undisguised  disregard  of  female  honor  has  been 
ascribed  this  frequency  of  infanticide.* 

The  conquest  of  Carthage  inspired  the  Romans  with  arrogance, 
and  although,  ostensibly,  her  constitution  remained  unchanged, 
by  it  the  power  of  the  Senate  acquired  an  undue  preponderance. 
An  illustration  of  this  was  seen  in  her  invasion  of  Sardinia,  in  the 
midst  of  peace.  Rome's  maritime  power  was  also  extended  in  the 
Adriatic,  and  at  the  same  time  she  formed  her  first  political  relations 
with  the  Grecian  States.  .  In  the  mean  time  Carthage  was  endeavor 
ing  to  atone  for  the  loss  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  by  extending  her 
Spanish  dominions.  Rome  at  this  time  numbered,  in  all  Italy,  an 
army  of  eight  hundred  thousand  men.  While  Hannibal,  who  had 
the  command  in  Spain,  was  meditating  a  descent  upon  Rome,  the 
preparations  she  made  for  defence  show  that  it  was  not  believed 

*  Dr.  Cooke  Taylor. 


THE   FALL   OF   ROME.  61 

possible  that  be  could  execute  his  enterprise  by  the  route  which 
he  took. 

The  results  of  this  war  were,  the  destruction  of  the  naval  power 
of  the  Carthaginians,  and,  notwithstanding*  her  immense  loss,  a 
great  increase  of  the  territorial  dominion  of  Rome.  Rome  now  pre 
sented  the  fearful  spectacle  of  a  great  military  Republic.  Flushed 
with  the  brilliancy  of  he,r  achievements,  she  became  a  nation  of 
warriors,  and  to  this  cause  may  be  ascribed  her  aspirations  after 
the  dominion  of  the  world.  It  demanded  the  most  dexterous  and 
sagacious  policy  on  the  part  of  Rome  to  frustrate  the  powerful 
alliances  formed  against  her.  The  Roman  Senate  at  this  epoch 
usurped  almost  unlimited  control — despotic  and  oligarchical — and  yet 
it  was  the  embodiment  of  ths  highest  political  wisdom.  Notwith 
standing  the  remonstrance  of  the  Tribunes,  war  was  declared  against 
Philip  of  Macedon.  The  Roman  arms  were  led  to  conquest  in  the 
east,  by  T.  Quintius  Flaminius.  He  gained  his  victory  more  by 
strategy  than  by  feats  of  arms.  As  he  had  already  gained  over 
the  Acha3an  league,  this  brought  Greece  into  a  state  of  dependence 
upon  Rome.  A  system  of  espionage  was  carried  on  by  Rome, 
not  only  in  the  West,  but  also  in  the  East,  over  Greece.  The  fall 
of  Carthage  and  Macedonia  sufficiently  exemplifies  the  political 
rapacity  of  Rome. 

The  ambassadors  or  Roman  commissioners  were  skilful  in  diplo 
macy  and  intrigue.  By  an  artful  policy,  Rome  procured  the  ban 
ishment  of  her  most  formidable  foe,  Hannibal,  from  Carthage,  and 
thus  prevented  his  projected  league  with  Syria  and  Macedonia.  A 
contest  then  arose  between  Rome  and  Antiochus,  who,  at  the  bat 
tle  of  Magnesia,  was  compelled  to  accept  conditions  of  peace,  and 
which  reduced  him  to  a  state  of  dependence. 

Within  ten  years,  Rome  had  laid  the  foundation  of  her  sway  in 
the  East,  and  she  soon  became  sovereign  arbitress  of  the  world  from 
the  Adriatic  to  the  Euphrates.  The  internal  condition  of  Rome  had 
now  become  grossly  immoral,  and  her  political  system  no  less  cor 
rupt.  Venality  and  perfidy  obtained  the  mastery,  and  with  reck- 

4 


62  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

less  disregard  of  honor,  slie  devastated  all  the  States  that  opposed  the 
way  to  her  universal  dominion. 

The  civil  broils  under  the  Gracchi,  to  "  the  first  use  of  power 
which  the  emperors  made,"  Mr.  Merivale  observes,  "  was  to  control 
the  fiscal  tyranny  of  the  proconsuls  and  publicani.  The  revolution 
of  Drusus  and  the  Gracchi  opened  the  spoils  of  the  world  to  the 
Italians ;  but  those  of  Julius  and  Octavius  closed  them  again,  and 
restored  them  to  their  rightful  owners.  The  luxuriance  of  Roman 
oppression  flourished  but  for  a  century  and  a  half;  but  in  that  time 
it  created,  perhaps,  the  most  extensive  and  searching  misery  the- 
world  has  ever  seen.  The  establishment  of  imperial  despotism 
placed  in  the  main  an  effective  control  over  these  petty  tyrants ;  and 
notwithstanding  all  the  crimes  by  which  it  won  its  way,  and  the 
corruptions  which  were  developed  in  its  progress,  it  deserves  to  be 
regarded,  at  least  in  this  important  particular,  as  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  vouchsafed  to  the  human  race." 

Sallust  forcibly  remarks  that  the  Roman  manners  were  precipi 
tated  at  once  to  the  depth  of  corruption,  after  the  manner  of  a 
resistless  torrent.  The  era  from  which  the  rapid  degeneracy  is  to 
be  dated,  was  the  destruction  of  Carthage ;  yet,  it  cannot  be  doubt 
ed  that  the  atheistical  tenets  attributed  to  Epicurus,  tended  in  no 
small  degree  to  accelerate  the  subversion  of  Roman  virtue  and  Ro 
man  liberty.  A  firm  belief  in  the  Divine  superintendence  of  aft  airs 
is  the  true  guarantee  of  public  and  private  virtue  as  .well  as  of  lib 
erty.  It  was  Atheism  that  slew  a  million  and  a  half  of  people  dur- 
inof  the  first  French  Revolution.  It  was  not  Voltaire  alone  who 

O 

blighted  all  France  with  the  curse  of  infidelity ;  France  had  pre 
viously  ignored  the  Sabbath,  desecrated  her  temples,  and  banished 
her  priesthood.  It  is  evident  from  the  lessons  of  all  history,  that 
the  Supreme  Governor  of  the  world  holds  nations  as  well  as  individ 
uals  to  a  strict  moral  accountability. 

The  historical  student,  in  comparing  the  Athenian  Republic  with 
the  Roman,  will  at  once  perceive  the  characteristic  differences  of  the 
races.  The  polished  Greek  preferred  the  polite  arts  of  life,  while  the 


THE    FALL   OF   KOME.  63 

sturdy  Roman  yielded  to  the  instinct  of  his  nature  in  love  of  mar 
tial  exploits.  "\Yith  tlie  former,  genius  and  learning  were  the  cyno 
sure;  with  the  latter,  the  ensanguined  trophies  of  war.  Except 
during  the  age  of  the  Republic,  the  records  of  Roman  history  boast 
of  few  illustrious  names  in  literature.  It  was  then  that  public  vir 
tue  was  sustained  by  public  education  ;  it  was  then  that  the  heroic 
fame  of  the  Roman  matrons  passed  into  a  proverb.  No  wonder  that 
rhetoric  and  poetry  should  then  have  attained  such  rare  excellence ; 
or  that  the  populace  even  should  have  been  fired  with  emulation  of 
literary  distinction  ;  or  that  Sallust,  and  Caesar,  Cicero,  Lucretius, 
Virgil,  Horace,  and  Livy,  became  the  master  spirits  of  the  age.  It 
will  be  also  remembered  that  the  laws  of  the  "  Twelve  Tables"  of  the 
Decemvirs  or  ten  Commissioners,  were  the  product  of  the  Repub 
lican  intellect  of  R'ome. 

Though  the  temples  of  Rome  are  in  ruins,  these  "  Tables,"  which 
Cicero  declared,  "  contained  more  wisdom  than  the  libraries  of  all 
the  Philosophers,"  are  preserved  intact,  through  the  lapse  of  twenty 
centuries,  since  they  form  the  basis  of  the  law  and  the  jurispru 
dence  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  fate  of  the  Republic  seemed  now  to  depend  upon  the  success 
of  her  Liberator — the  elder  Gracchus.  In  his  effort  to  establish  a 
yeomanry — the  last  expedient  for  reconciling  the  ceaseless  discords 
between  the  politicians  and  plebeians — he  became  the  victim  of  the 
brutal  fury  of  the  former.  "The  election  day  for  tribunes  was  in 
mid-summer ;  the  few  husbandmen,  the  only  shadow  of  a  Roman 
yeomanry,  were  busy  in  the  field,  gathering  their  crops,  and  failed 
to  come  to  the  support  of  their  champion.  He  was  left  to  rest  his 
defence  on  the  rabble  of  the  city,  and  though  early  in  the, morning 
great  crowds  of  the  people  gathered  together,  and  though,  as  Grac 
chus  appeared  in  the  forum,  a  shout  of  joy  rent  the  skies,  which  was 
redoubled  as  he  ascended  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  yet  when  the  pa 
tricians,  determined  at  every  hazard  to  defeat  the  assembly,  came 
with  the  whole  weight  of  their  adherents  in  a  mass,  the  timid  flock, 
yielding  to  the  sentiment  of  awe  rather  than  of  cowardice,  fled  like 


64  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

sheep  before  wolves,  and  left  their  defender,  the  incomparable  Tibe 
rius,  to  be  beaten  to  death  by  the  clubs  of  senators.  Three  hundred 
of  his  most  faithful  friends  were  left  lifeless  in  the  market-place.  In 
the  fury  of  triumphant  passion,  the  corpse  of  the  tribune  was  dragged 
through  the  streets,  and  thrown  into  the  Tiber."*  The  deluded  no 
bles  flattered  themselves  into  a  belief  that  they  had  accomplished  a 
victory ;  that  the  senate  had  routed  the  people,  but  it  was  the  aveng 
ing  spirit  of  their  fearful  wrongs,  that  had  struck  the  first  deadly 
wound  into  the  bosom  of  Rome.  The  blood  of  their  victim,  like  that 
of  other  martyrs,  but  cemented  his  party.  A  succession  of  fearful  in 
surrections  ensued,  and  the  soldiers  of  the  Republic  became  the  cap 
tives  of  their  bondsmen,  whose  numbers  had  prodigiously  increased. 

Such  were  the  horrors  of  this  civil  war  in  Sicily  and  Italy,  that  it 
is  said  a  million  of  lives  were  sacrificed,  and  that  Sicily  suffered  more 
from  its  devastations  than  during  the  Carthaginian  war.  Two  evils 
seemed  to  have  resulted,  unbridled  license  among  the  wealthy,  and 
the  most  degrading  servitude  of  the  bondsmen.  It  was  now  that  Ro 
man  citizens,  by  their  own  vote,  consented  to  the  degradation  of  be 
coming  paupers,  their  extreme  poverty  requiring  that  they  should  b(; 
fed  from  the  public  table.  Discarding  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  and 
the  industrial  arts,  the  public  treasury  had  to  be  supplied  by  plunder 
of  foreign  countries,  and  thus  Roman  virtue  and  Roman  valor  were 
exchanged  for  piracy  and  pillage.  At  this  crisis  the  demagogue 
Marius  became  the  chieftain  of  the  oppressed  poor.  The  streets  of 
Rome  and  the  fields  of  Italy  again  became  the  scenes  of  massacre, 
and  the  oppressed  bondsmen  witnessed  the  fearful  destruction  of  their 
oppressors. 

They  triumphed  over  Sylla,  the  leader  of  the  opposite  party,  who,  to 
gain  influence,  conferred  freedom  upon  ten  thousand  of  their  number. 
The  subsequent  insurrection  of  Spartacus  failed,  however,  of  its  pro 
posed  result,  for,  when  in  sight  of  the  Alps,  the  immense  emigration, 
which  had  already  defeated  the  armies  of  four  Roman  generals,  fell  a 
snare  to  its  lust  of  plunder,  and  was  thus  overthrown.  The  defeat  of 

*  Bancroft's  Miscellanies. 


THE   FALL   OF  ROME.  65 

Spartacus  took  place  at  a,  moment  when  the  Roman  state  was  in  jeo 
pardy  from  foreign  enemies,  and  from  the  fiercest  domestic  distrac 
tions.  It  was  then  that  the  haughty  tyranny  of  her  nobles  was  at  its 
greatest  height,  and  when  the  degradation  of  its  industrial  classes  was 
most  insupportable.  It  was  at  this  juncture,  when  the  last  glimmer 
ing  light  of  liberty  had  vanished,  that  the  dark  reign  of  despotism 
began. 

Thus  we  see  that  oriental  luxury  was  the  parent,  first  of  civil,  then 
of  political  despotism,  and  the  train  of  its  vices  appear  to  us  through 
the  lapse  of  time,  in  all  their  monstrous  deformity.  The  reign  of  Ro 
man  luxury  was  gigantic  in  crime,  for  it  would  sacrifice  ten  thousand 
gladiators  with  as  much  unconcern  as  the  Spaniards  exhibit  at  a 
bull-fight. 

"  Despotism  now  became  the  government  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Yet  there  was  such  a  validity  even  in  the  forms  of  liberty,  that 
they  were  still  in  some  degree  preserved.  Two  centuries  passed 
away,  before  the  last  vestiges  of  Republican  simplicity  disappeared, 
and  the  Eastern  diadem  was  introduced  with  the  slavish  customs  of 
the  East.  Up  to  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  a  diadem  had  never  been 
endured  in  Europe.  Hardly  had  this  emblem  of  servility  become 
tolerated,  when  language  also  began  to  be  corrupted ;  and,  within  the 
course  of  another  century,  the  austere  purity  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
tongue,  the  languages  of  Demosthenes  and  of  Gracchus,  became  for 
the  first  time  familiarized  to  the  forms  of  oriental  adulation.  Your 
imperial  highness,  your  grace,  your  excellency,  your  immensity,  your 
honor,  your  majesty,  then  became  first  current  in  the  European  world ; 
men  grew  ashamed  of  a  plain  name,  and  one  person  could  not  ad 
dress  another  without  following  the  customs  of  the  Syrians,  and  call 
ing  him  rabbi,  master."* 

Previously,  Roman  citizenship  constituted  by  far  the  smallest  por 
tion  of  her  inhabitants.  Her  dependencies  and  allies  were  treated, 
with  very  slight  exceptions,  as  aliens,  who  were  denied  the  right  of 
voting,  <fec.  Herein  consisted  her  safety,  and  her  deviation  from  the 

*  Bancroft's  Miscellanies. 


GG  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

rule  is  proved  to  have  been  fraught  with  ruin.  The  same  cause  will 
ever  insure  like  results. 

"  The  universal  record  of  history  teaches  that  all  republics  which 
have  risen  and  fallen,  owe  their  destruction  to  foreign  influence — un 
seen  at  first, — permitted  till  too  strong  for  resistance, — at  last  fatal."* 

During  the  greatest  successes  of  Caesar,  just  after  his  defeat  of 
Pompey  at  Pharsalia,  the  Senate  was  crowded  with  aliens  and  soldiers, 
instead  of  Roman  citizens.  Michelet  remarks,  the  victory  of  Caesar 
bore  all  the  character  of  an  incursion  of  barbarians  into  Rome,  and 
into  the  Senate.  In  the  commencement  of  the  civil  war,  he  had 
given  the  right  of  the  city  to  all  the  Gauls  between  the  Alps  and  the 
Po,  and  he  raised  to  the  rank  of  Senators  a  whole  host  of  Gaulish 
Centurions  in  his  army,  as  well  as  soldiers.  Thus  the  conquerors  of 
Pharsalia  came  to  stammer  out  Latin  by  the  side  of  Cicero.  Thus 
that  body,  once  so  august,  was  now  under  the  control  of  the  thrice- 
elected  Dictator.  This  Senate  decreed  a  general  celebration  of  his 
various  victories,  during  forty  days.  A  bronze  statue  of  him  was  to 
be  set  up  in  the  Capitol,  inscribed  "  the  demigod  !"  His  triumphant 
processions,  one  for  Gaul,  another  for  Egypt,  a  third  for  Syria,  and  a 
fourth  for  Numidia,  bore  him  four  times,  in  the  highest  state  which 
mortal  could  sustain,  up  to  the  temple  where  his  imago  testified  to 
immortality,  while  to  all  classes  of  the  people,  revcllings,  games,  and 
fastings,  were  continued  with  unsparing  prodigality.  His  fifth  and 
last  triumph  was  that  obtained  over  the  sons  of  Pompey,  of  Munda. 
The  Senate  still  continued  to  lavish  upon  him  every  kind  of  extrava 
gant  homage,  even  acknowledging  him  as  the  Julian  Jupiter,  and  or 
daining  a  temple  and  a  priesthood  to  be  consecrated  to  his  worship. 
So  fell  the  liberty,  and  so  trembled  the  religion  of  Rome.  There  was 
now  but  one  man  for  those  "  that  talked  of  Rome,"  to  praise  as  their 
sovereign,  and  to  confess  their  deity .f 

Thus  by  their  vices  were  the  Roman  people  brought  to  servitude, 
not  as  they  were  unwilling,  but  as  if  bondage  had  become  more  ac 
ceptable  to  them  than  liberty. 

*  Gov.  Gardner  of  Mass.  t  Elliot's  Liberty  of  Rome. 


THE    FALL    OF   ROME.  G7 

"But  what  more  oft,  in  nations  grown  corrupt, 
And  by  their  vices  brought  to  servitude, 
Than  to  love  bondage  more  than  liberty?" 

The  almost  superhuman  influence  "which.  Caesar  exerted  as  Emperor 
was,  however,  destined  to  a  swift  annihilation.  .His  work  of  massacre 
and  spoliation  had  ceased,  and  now  the  retributions  of  Providence  were 
to  follow.  The  story  of  his  subsequent  career  to  its  end  is  already 
familiar  to  the  reader.  With  the  accession  of  Octavius  Caesar,  who 
assumed  the  title  of  Augustus  and  Emperor,  may  be  said  to  have 
ended  the  greatest  commonwealth  the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  the 
commencement  of  the  greatest  monarchy.  The  empire  of  Rome  was 
extended  over  the  whole  globe ;  in  Europe,  it  comprised  Italy,  Gaul, 
Spain,  Lusitania,  Greece,  Illyricum,  parts  of  Britain  and  Germany ; — 
in  Asia,  Armenia,  Syria,  India,  Asia  Minor,  Mesopotamia,  and  Me 
dia  ; — in  Africa,  Egypt,  Numidia,  Mauritania,  and  Libya.  But  it  was 
under  the  tyranny  of  her  praetorian  guards  that  the  liberty  of  Rome 
was  sacrificed.  There  is  a  voice  which  yet  speaks  to  us  from  Marius, 
and  Sylla,  and  Philippi. 

The  ruin  of  the  free  classes  of  Rome,  and  the  consequent  depopu 
lation  of  the  empire,  appears  to  have  been  the  specific  malady  of  the 
state,  and  under  which  it  suffered  dissolution.*  Gibbon  forcibly 
portrays  the  skepticism  and  its  usual  accompaniments,  which  ob 
tained  among  the  higher  ranks  of  Roman  society.  "  It  was  indiffer 
ent  to  them  what  shape  the  folly  of  the  multitude  might  choose  to  as 
sume,  and  they  approached  with  the  same  inward  contempt,  and  the 
same  external  reverence,  the  altars  of  the  Libyan,  the  Olympian,  or 
the  Capitoline  Jupiter."  * 

The  Abbe  Lamennais  asserts,  "that  in  such  a  frame  of  society, 
the  human  mind  had  nothing  to  rest  upon.  Despoiled  of  its  faith, 
and  even  of  its  opinions,  it  was  drifted  upon  an  ocean  of  uncertainty  and 
doubt.  There  was  no  more  of  paganism — no  more  of  philosophy,  un 
less  you  call  by  that  name  those  idle  vagaries  with  which  the  Romans 
amused  their  leisure  in  the  gardens  of  their  villas,  or  under  the  porti- 

*  Michelet. 


68  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

coes  of  their  palaces,  but  from  which  proceeded  no  guide  to  the  con 
science,  no  fixed  rule  of  conduct.  They  descanted  upon  their  gods  only 
to  doubt  their  existence — on  their  duties,  to  elude  them — on  death,  to 
determine  how  life  could  be  enjoyed  most ;  and  the  whole  was  termi 
nated  by  abandoning  themselves,  heedlessly,  to  the  current  which  car 
ried,  pell-mell,  the  wrecks  of  social  order,  men,  institutions,  and  the 
empire  itself."  Montesquieu,  and  other  reliable  authorities,  do  not 
essentially  differ  in  their  opinions. 

Last,  but  greatest  of  all  the  causes  that  rendered  the  Roman  peo 
ple  incapable  of  existing  any  longer  as  a  Republic,  that  made  their 
subjugation  to  the  rule  of  some  military  adventurer  inevitable,  was 
the  universal  spread  of  irreligion  and  profligacy.*  This  is  disguised, 
or  lightly  passed  over  by  some  modern  writers  ;  but  no  one  can  be 
come  familiar  with  the  classics,  without  having  it  perpetually  forced 
upon  his  notice  in  a  thousand  different  forms ;  no  mistaken  delicacy 
should  prevent  us  from  dwelling  and  reflecting  on  the  facts.  They 
teach  the  great  moral,  that,  to  preserve  freedom,  piety  and  virtue  must 
not  be  suffered  to  decay.  The  Romans,  whose  foreign  conquest  and 
domestic  concord  Polybius  witnessed,  believed  firmly  in  a  future  state- 
of  rewards  and  punishment ;  hence,  as  Polybius  remarked,  came  the 
probity  that  honorably  distinguished  their  nation.  The  Romans  of 
Caesar's  time  had  learned  to  look  on  such  ideas  as  vain  and  ridiculous. 

Among  the  Roman  virtues,  not  the  least  conspicuous,  was  her  sub 
lime  patriotism.  It  ^vas  this  that  added  such  august  dignity  to  the 
Roman  character;  but,  with  the  loss  of  her  virtues,  came  the  fall  of 
the  great  commonwealth. 

No  people  has  ever  been  destroyed  unless  internal  division  has 
first  prepared  the  way  for  an  invader.  Nationality  is  of  too  strong  a 
power  to  be  seriously  affected  by  external  attacks :  its  foes  are  in 
its  own  household,  and  cliques  and  feuds  are  its  most  dangerous 
enemies. 

The  armies  of  Joshua  found  the  Canaanites  an  easy  prey,  for  that 
ancient  people  were  split  up  into  numerous  principalities  and  tribes, 

*  Mcrivalc. 


THE   FALL   OF   ROME.  69 

though  of  common  origin,  language,  and  customs.  Their  several 
kings"  or  chieftains  could  resolve  on  no  settled  action  against  the  in 
vader  ;  internal  jealousies  prevented  a  united  action,  and  the  several 
nations  were  annihilated  in  detail. 

Carthage,  the  mistress  of  the  world  when  Rome  was  yet  in  its  in 
fancy,  flourished  peacefully  so  long  as  concord  and  unity  influenced 
her  citizens  in  the  common  good,  but  faction  wrested  victory  from  her 
brow,  persecuted  and  banished  the  immortal  Hannibal,  and  left  her 
palaces  in  ruins  at  the  feet  of  her  conquerors. 

Rome,  eternal  Rome  herself,  felt  the  terrible  evils  of  division. 
Against  such  treason  to  the  Republic,  Cicero  thundered  in  fearful  elo 
quence,  denouncing  the  Catiliues  and  anarchists  of  the  age  who  sought 
to  divide  a  united  people.  It  was  by  such  divisions  that  Caesar  and 
Pompey  destroyed  the  Republic,  and  left  it  the  prey  of  emperors. 

Feuds  and  civil  war  delivered  Italy  to  the  barbarians,  and  the  rival 
houses  of  the  Arsini,  Colonna,  Medici,  <fec.,  plunged  her  in  mediaeval 
darkness.  Poland  shone  among  the  nations,  and  drove  back  the 
Moslems  from  the  walls  of  Vienna,  for  she  was  then  moved  by  one 
principle,  and  patriotism  had  an  existence  in  her  midst.  But  an  evil 
day  came,  and  her  nobles  forgot  their  country,  and  thought  but  of 
their  own  selfish  interests.  Then,  what  the  mighty  Turkish  power 
had  failed  to  injure,  trembled  before  a  northern  invader  ;  Poland  was 
still  the  same  nation,  the  same  heroic  people ;  but  her  soldiers  were 
slain,  and  her  scythemen  annihilated,  because  the  bond  of  union,  the 
common  action,  was  now  no  more. 

History  has  graven  on  the  granite  columns  of  Time  the  incontro 
vertible  maxim,  "  Union  is  Strength."  Ambition  and  Tyranny  have 
divined  its  import,  and  embraced  the  only  course  which  could  affect 
it.  That  course  is,  Diviser  pour  regner :  (Divide,  in  order  to  reign.) 
It  is  only  by  such  a  policy  that  liberty  can  be  attacked  ;  she  is  safe 
against  all  foreign  enemies;  storms  will  pass  harmlessly  over  her;  but 
dissension  will  induce  rancor,  and  rancor,  anarchy :  thus  the  State  is 
quickly  left  to  bemoan  its  loss  of  freedom,  when  it  sees  itself  the  prey 
of  ever-changing  tyrants. 

4* 


'TO  A  VOICE  TO  AMEKICA. 

The  loss  of  a  firm  national  character,  or  the  degradation  of  a  na 
tion's  honor,  is  the  inevitable  prelude  to  her  destruction.  Behold  the 
once  proud  fabric  of  a  Roman  empire,  an  empire  Carrying  its  arts  and 
arms  into  every  part  of  the  eastern  continent ;  the  monarchs  of 
mighty  kingdoms,  dragged  at  the  wheels  of  her  triumphal  chariots  ; 
her  eao-le  wavino-  over  the  ruins  of  desolated  countries:  where  is  her 

O  O 

splendor,  her  wealth,  her  power,  her  glory  2  Extinguished  forever. 
Her  mouldering  temples,  the  mournful  .vestiges  of  her  former  gran 
deur,  afford  a  shelter  to  her  muttering  monks.  Where  are  her  states 
men,  her  sages,  her  philosophers,  her  orators,  her  generals  ?  Go  to 
their  solitary  tombs  and  inquire.  She  lost  her  national  character,  and 
her  destruction  followed.  The  ramparts  of  her  national  pride  were 
broken  down,  and  Vandalism  desolated  her  classic  fields.* 

Thus  has  the  mighty  mother  of  nations  fallen — with  all  her  pride 
of  beauty,  her  majestic  power,  her  intellectual  greatness,  and  her  sub 
lime  patriotism ! 

"All,  eloquence,  thou  wast  undone, — 
Wast  from  thy  native  country  driven, 
When  tyranny  eclipsed  the  sun, 
And  blotted  out  the  stars  of  heaven!" 

Yet  the  world  ceases  not  to  do  homage  to  her  lost  virtues,  as  well  as 
her  triumphant  exploits  in  arts  and  philosophy  ;  and  in  all  coming 
time,  will  there  be  found  admiring  multitudes  who  will  delight  to 
gaze  up  into  those  bright  blue  skies,  which  inspired  the  muse  of  Vir 
gil,  to  linger  amid  the  ruins  of  her  Forum,  so  memorable  for  the  stu 
pendous  eloquence  of  Cicero,  and  to  bend  before  that  Temple  of  Lib 
erty,  in  which  Rienzi  vowed  to  her  protection  in  her  last  asylum. 

"Her  ruined  columns  stand  sublime, 

Flinging  their  shadows  from  on  high; 
Like  dials  which  the  wizard  Time 

Had  raised  to  count  his  age  gone  by." 

Other  great  cities  of  past  ages  may  attract  us — Thebes,  Babylon, 
*  Maxcy. 


THE   FALL   OF  ROME.  71 

Persepolis,  and  Nineveh — but  Imperial  Rome  awes  us  with  a  solemn 
sense  of  her  mighty  mind,  as  well  as  her  magnificence.  It  is  the 
genius  loci  of  the  great  capital  that  invests  it  with  such  deep  and 
absorbing  interest.  "It  is  because  she  was  the  lawgiver  of  the 
nations;  parent  of  institutions  that  give  civility  and  development  to 
society ;  inventress .  of  the  arts  that  establish  right  through  reason ; 
source  of  that  social  wisdom  which  is  civil  power, — that  the  all-impe 
rial  city  sits  throned  in  the  ever-during  reverence  of  the  mind,  girt 
with  a  divinity  invisible,  perhaps,  to  the  frivolous,  but  irresistible  to 
the  thoughtful  minded." 


ITALIAN  LIBERTY  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 

"The  sea,  that  emblem  of  uncertainty, 
Changed  not  so  fast,  for  many  and  many  an  age, 
As  this  small  spot." 

WHEN  the  irruption  of  the  Teutonic  tribes  into  the  Roman  Empire 
had  plunged  Europe  in  barbarism,  the  first  attempt  at  the  establish 
ment  of  order  and  government  was  the  creation  of  the  feudal  system. 

"  The  establishment  of  the  feudal  system  had  a  powerful  and 
striking  influence  upon  European  civilization.  It  changed  the  distri 
bution  of  the  population.  Hitherto,  the  lords  of  the  territory,  the 
conquering  population,  had  lived  united  in  masses  more  or  less 
numerous,  either  settled  in  cities,  or  moving  about  the  country  in 
bands ;  but,  by  the  operation  of  the  feudal  system,  these  men  were 
brought  to  live  isolated,  each  in  his  own  dwelling,  at  long  distances 
apart."* 

No  system  has  been  so  powerful  in  checking  democratic  liberty  as 
feudalism.  Leaguing  with  the  throne  or  the  Church,  as  circumstances 
rendered  necessaiy,  it  consolidated  power,  and  became,  as  it  were,  an 
integral  part  of  government.  The  people,  ignored  by  it,  were  only 
used  to  add  vis  inertias  to  the  pretensions  and  encroachments  of  their 
oppressors. 

But  one  country  refused  its  adoption.  Whilst  the  rest  of  Europe 
was  developing  feudality,  Italy  barred  its  progress  beyond  the  Alps, 
and  created  those  asylums  of  individual  liberty,  the  various  Repub 
lics,  which  it  is  now  our  intention  to  examine. 

The  Italian  Republics  of  the  Middle  Ages  demand  the  serious 
attention  of  our  citizens,  suffering,  as  they  did,  from  like  attack  with 
ourselves,  and  succumbing  eventually  beneath  those  evils  which 

*  Guizot. 


4  A  VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

equally  affect  us,  and  which,  if  unchecked,  will  ultimately  prove  our 
ruin.  The  Italian  commonwealths  are  worthy  the  love  and  esteem  of 
our  citizens ;  for  they  preserved  all  that  then  remained  of  democracy, 
and  shielded  liberty  from  destruction  during  the  most  critical  period 
of  European  affairs.  We  do  not  propose  to  give  a  history  of  all  or  any 
of  these  States,  but,  glancing  at, their  origin  and  prosperity,  to  study 
those  causes  which  destroyed  freedom,  and  thus,  from  the  misfortunes 
of  Italy,  to  inculcate  a  warning  to  America. 

The  municipal  government  which  Rome  had  established  throughout 
the  empire,  had  taken  deep  root  in  Italy,  and  having  flourished  during 
many  centuries,  offered  a  firm  barrier  to  the  progress  of  feudalism. 
This  system,  had  existed  too  long  for  Italy  to  unite  as  one  nation. 
Each  large  city  had  a  government  peculiar  to  itself;  and  the  smaller 
towns  which  sprung  up  around  them,  entering  into  alliance  for  mutual 
defence,  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  republic. 

Venice  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  States  which  devel 
oped  the  republican  form  of  government.  The  hordes  of  Lombards 
which  devastated  Italy  in  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  succeeded 
in  establishing  their  power  in  the  north  and  south,  but  failed  on  the 
Lagunes,  at  the  extremity  of  the  Adriatic.  As  early  as  the  time  of 
Attila,  these  marshes  had  been  the  refuge  for  the  rich  citizens  of  vari 
ous  towns,  fleeing  from  the  Huns  and  other  barbarous  tribes. 

"A  few  in  fear 

Flying  away  from  him,  whose  boast  it  was 
That  the  grass  grew  not  where  his  horse  had  tr.od, 
Gave  birth  to  Venice." 

In  course  of  time,  a  large  population  found  a  home  on  the  various 
islands,  supporting  themselves  by  the  making  of  salt,  fishing,  and  the 

commerce  of  the  various  rivers  whose  mouths  form  the  Lamines. 

i^? 

"Like  the  water-fowl, 
They  built  their  nests  among  the  ocean-waves." 

The  barbarians,  not  possessing  any  vessels,  left  these  refugees  unmo 
lested  ;  and  they  maintained  th«:-ir  independence  under  the  adminis- 


ITALIAN   LIBERTY   IN   THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  75 

tration  of  tribune^,  named  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  various  islands. 
Each  island  formed  a  separate  State,  and  thus  jealousies  and  disputes 
arose,  until,  at  length,  they  united  themselves  into  one  republic,  elect 
ing  an  assembly  and  a  chief,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  Doge. 
In  809,  during  a  war  with  Pepin,  they  made  choice  of  the  island  of 
the  Rialto  as  their  capital,  and,  twenty  years  later,  transported  thither 
the  body  of  St.  Mark,  whom  they  chose  as  their  patron  saint. 

In  the  south,  the  republics  of  Gaeta,  Amain",  and  Naples  had 
successfully  resisted  the  attacks  of  Lombards  and  Saracens,  and  cov 
ered  the  Levant  with  ships  of  merchandise.  To  Amain*  is  due  the 
glory  of  the  invention  of  the  manner's  compass,  the  establishment  of 
the  order  of  the  Knights  Hospitalers  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  preser 
vation  of  the  pandects  of  Justinian.  Naples  and  Amalfi  both  suc 
cumbed  to  the  Normans,  under  Roger  II.,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century. 

"  When,  towards  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  the  Western 
world  took  up  the  dispute  with  the  Saracens  for  the  sepulchre  of 
Jesus  Christ,  Venice,  Pisa,  and  Genoa  had  already  reached  a  high 
point  of  commercial  power.  These  three  cities  had  more  vessels  on 
the  Mediterranean  than  the  whole  of  Christendom  besides.  They 
seconded  the  Crusaders  with  enthusiasm.  They  provisioned  them 
when  arrived  off  the  coast  of  Syria,  and  kept  up  their  communica 
tion  with  the  West.  The  Venetians  assert  that  they  sent  a  fleet  of 
two  hundred  vessels,  in  the  year  1099,  to  aid  the  first  crusade.  The 
Pisans  affirm  that  their  archbishop,  Daimbert — who  was  afterwards 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem — passed  into  the  East  with  a  hundred  and 
twenty  vessels.  The  Genoese  claim  only  twenty-eight  galleys  and 
six  vessels.  But  all  concurred  with  equal  zeal  in  the  conquest  of  the 
Holy  Land ;  and  the  three  maritime  republics  obtained  important 
privileges,  which  they  preserved  as  long  as  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem 
lasted."* 

Such  was  the  prosperity  of  the  Italian  Republics  when  Frederic 
Barbarossa  determined  to  abolish  their  freedom,  and  render  Italy  an 

*Sismondi. 


76  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

integral  part  of  the  German  Empire.  The  small  towns  quickly  per 
ceived  that  their  only  safety  was  in  joining  some  one  of  the  great 
cities,  and  making  common  cause  against  their  oppressor.  Thence 
arose  the  Guelph  and  Ghibeline  parties,  which  distracted  the  penin 
sula  with  civil  war  during  several  centuries. 

The  two  party-cries,  which  seem  to  us  insufficient  to  account  for 
the  sanguinary  proceedings  which  desolated  Italy,  represented  two 
important  principles.  The  Emperors  of  Germany  were  determined 
to  vanquish  the  democratic  institutions  of  the  Italians,  and,  by  grant 
ing  certain  immunities  to  different  cities,  obtained  their  assistance 
against  the  Guelphs,  who  asserted  their  independence  of  the  Emperors, 
and  found  a  willing  ally  in  the  Papacy,  then  in  the  height  of  the 
struggle  to  rid  itself  of  the  temporal  power. 

Notwithstanding  the  civil  commotion  which  threw  the  entire  coun 
try  into  one  camp  or  the  other,  Italy  presented  a  magnificent  picture 
at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  authority  of  the  popes 
and  emperors  having  become  suspended,  numerous  petty  independent 
republics  had  arisen :  the  country  was  filled  with  cultivated  plains 
and  valleys,  the  proprietors  advancing  capital  and  sharing  the  har 
vests  ;  immense  canals  were  constructed  for  purposes  of  irrigation,  of 
which  the  Naviglio  Grande  of  Milan  still  bears  testimony  to  the  sci 
ence  and  perseverance  of  seventy-eight  years.  The  cities  began  to 
construct  and  perfect  those  wonderful  works  of  art,  which  the  lapse  of 
six  centuries  still  sees  drawing  the  steps  of  travellers  to  Florence,  Ge 
noa,  and  Venice :  the  towns  were  surrounded  with  fortifications,  and 
the  streets  paved  with  flag-stones.  Magnificence  and  taste  combined 
to  raise  and  beautify  the  palaces  of  Italian  citizens,  at  a  time  when 
the  nobles  and  princes  of  the  rest  of  Europe  thought  but  of  security 
and  defence.  Sculpture,  both  of  bronze  and  marble,  flourished  under 
the  chisels  of  the  forerunners  of  Michael  Angelo ;  the  "  Gates  of 
Heaven"  of  the  Baptistery  at  Florence  were  cast,  whilst  Cimabue  and 
Giotto  revived  painting,  Casella,  music,  and  Dante  gave  to  the  world 
his  glorious  poem.  Ilistory  was  studied,  and  written  with  elegance 
and  truth  by  Giovanni  Villani  and  others,  whose  records  bear  testi- 


ITALIAN   LIBERTY   IN   THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  77 

mony  to  the  flourishing  state  of  their  country,  and  its  happiness  under 
the  blessings  of  self-government.  The  manufactures  of  Italy,  particu 
larly  in  stuffs  and  arms,  excited  the  astonishment  and  cupidity  of  the 
northern  nations ;  the  Tuscan  and  Lombard  merchants  trafficked  in 
the  East  and  West,  bartering  their  goods  to  the  people,  and  lending 
money  to  the  nobles  at  large  interest:  the  banking  and  monetary 
system  of  Europe  was  established  by  them.  The  laboring  classes 
were  in  similar  prosperity ;  each  gained  largely,  and  spent  but  moder 
ately,  for  manners  were  yet  pure,  and  luxury  had  not  as  yet  affected 
virtue. 

But  this  prosperity  was  doomed,  and  the  dissensions  of  the  various 
republics  soon  surrendered  liberty  to  the  uncontrolled  power  of  such 
despots  as  the  Visconti  and  the  Medici.  War  broke  out  in  1282,  be 
tween  Genoa  and  Pisa,  which  continued  with  various  success  until  the 
year  1284. 

The  history  of  Florence,  "  that  land  where  the  poet's  lip  and  the 
painter's  hand  are  most  divine,"  presents  more  objects  of  importance 
than  any  other  republic  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Previous  to  her  subjec 
tion  to  the  Medici,  she  was  free,  active,  and  independent,  the  protec 
tress  of  Italian  liberty,  the  nurse  of  art  and  science.  There  was  an 
immeasurably  greater  degree  of  democratic  liberty  in  her  midst  than 
elsewhere.  Venice  was  an  oligarchy,  whilst  a  powerful  aristocracy 
predominated  more  or  less  in  the  other  republics. 

"  Florence  was  the  Athens  of  Italy.  The  genius  displayed  by*ome 
of  its  citizens, — the  talent  and  intelligence  in  business  to  be  found 
even  in  the  mass  of  the  people, — the  generosity  which  seemed  the 
national  character,  whenever  it  was  necessary  to  protect  the  oppressed 
to  defend  the  cause  of  liberty, — raised  this  city  above  every  other."* 

Discord  broke  out,  however,  in  13 78  ;  the  lower  orders  demanding 
a  more  complete  equality  with  the  higher  classes.  The  constitution 
became  at  this  time  entirely  democratic ;  the  people  were  sovereign, 
and  the  nobles  were  excluded  from  the  government.  The  seeds  of 
anarchy  and  oppression  were,  however,  in  her  midst, — the  citizens 

*  Sismondi. 


78  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

were  divided  into  twenty-one  different  corporations  of  arts  or 
from  seven  of  which,  termed  arti  maggiori,  the  magistrates  might 
alone  be  chosen.  From  these  sprung  the  Albizzi  and  Ricci,  rival 
houses,  and  eventually  the  Medici,  who,  from  popular  leaders,  became 
the  absolute  sovereigns  of  the  republic. 

The  disputes  between  the  higher  and  lower  orders  of  the  citizens 
broke  out  with  renewed  intensity  in  1378.  The  poorer  classes  of  arti 
sans  flew  to  arms,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  city.  A 
carder  of  woo],  Michele  Lando,  marched  at  the  head  of  the  people, 
carrying  in  his  hand  the  gonfalon  or  national  standard,  when  suddenly 
the  citizens  proclaimed  him  gonfalonier.  He  restored  peace  and  se 
curity  tq  the  State,  and  ordained  that  in  future  the  chief  magistracy 
should  consist  of  three  members  of  the  major  arts,  three  of  the  minor, 
and  three  of  the  ciompi  or  wool-carders.  But  this  state  of  order  and 
freedom  did  not  long  exist:  in  1381  the  people  were  deprived  of 
power,  and  the  family  of  Albizzi  then  directed  the  republic  for  fifty- 
three  years.  This  house  governed  the  State  prosperously ;  Florence 
attained  an  unexampled  degree  of  prosperity,  setting  a  limit  to  the 
ambition  of  the  powerful  Gian  Galeazza  Visconti,  Ladislaus,  king  of 
Naples,  and  Filippo  Maria,  duke  of  Milan. 

"  No  triumph  of  an  aristocratic  faction  ever  merited  a  more  bril 
liant  place  in  history.  The  one  in  question  maintained  itself  by  the 
ascendency  of  its  talents  and  virtues,  without  ever  interfering  with  the 
rights  of  the  other  citizens,  or  abusing  a  preponderance  which  was 
all  in  opinion."* 

The  family  of  the  Medici  having  obtained  the  leadership  of  the 
people  by  advocating  popular  doctrines,  now  intrigued  to  build  up  the 
fortunes  of  their  house,  and  Cosmo  de  Medici  became  the  rival  of  the 
Albizzi.  Driven  from  the  city  in  1433,  he  was  recalled  the  following 
year,  and  the  Albizzi  expelled. 

Had  there  been  any  patriotism  in  the  Italian  nation  at  this  period — 
had  any  common  course  of  action  or  policy  existed,  or  union  of  the 
different  republics  been  effected — Italy  could  have  cleared  the  Penin- 

*  Sismondi. 


ITALIAN    LIBERTY    IN  THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  79 

sula  of  foreign  armies,  and  driven  the  French,  Germans,  Spaniards, 
and  Swiss,  with  countless  Condottieri,  beyond  the  Alps.  The  great 
republics  of  Milan,  Venice,  and  Florence,  could  not,  however,  con 
sent  to  this  forgetfulness  of  rivalry,  and  the  two  latter  refused  to  ad 
mit  Milan  into  such  a  union.  Italy,  therefore,  soon  became  a  prey, 
not  merely  to  foreigners,  but  to  her  own  citizens,  and  the  various  re 
publics  fell  into  the  hands  of  those  rich  families,  whose  only  object 
was  self-aggrandizement. 

Cosmo  de  Medici  resolved  to  effect  that,  in  which  the  family  of  the 
Bentivogli  had  been  successful  in  Bologna, — the  subjugation  of  the 
State  to  his  rule,  and  that  of  his  descendants.  In  this  he  eventually 
succeeded,  and  henceforward  we  can  no  longer  regard  Florence  as  a 
republic,  but  as  a  duchy, — glorious,  magnificent,  and  powerful,  it  is 
true,  but  a  State  in  which  democratic  liberty  did  not  exist,  even  in 
name,  where  the  pride  of  a  dominant  family  was  the  first,  the  only 
consideration.  Florence  had  been  the  least  selfish  of  all  the  Italian 
republics :  she  had  opposed  the  oppressive  power  of  the  German  em 
perors,  assisted  her  weaker  neighbors  against  their  tyrants,  and  been 
the  guardian  of  liberty,  generally,  in  Italy.  But  she  fell,  because  in  an 
evil  hour  she  followed  a  selfish  policy,  and  forgot  the  good  of  the 
whole  in  her  private  jealousies. 

There  was  a  gleam  of  hope,  however,  when,  in  1494,  Florence  §x- 
pelled  the  Medici,  after  they  had  governed  the  city  during  sixty  years. 
Three  parties  aspired  to  power.  The  Piagnoni,  headed  by  the  famous 
Savonarola,  a  monk,  who  demanded  a  democratic  constitution ;  the 
Arabbiati,  who  aspired  to  hold  the  same  aristocratic  power  as  that 
formerly  held  by  the  Medici ;  and  the  Bigi,  the  partisans  of  the  Medici, 
who  kept  studiously  in  retirement.  These  three  parties  became  so 
evenly  balanced  in  the  balia  or  national  council  of  1494,  that  "  Sa 
vonarola  took  advantage  of  this  state  of  affairs  to  urge  that  the  people 
had  never  delegated  their  power  to  a  balia,  which  did  not  abuse  their 
trust.  '  The  people,'  he  said,  '  would  do  much  better  to  reserve  this 
power  to  themselves,  and  exercise  it  by  a  council,  into  which  all  the 
citizens  should  be  admitted.'  His  proposition  was  agreed  to,  and  a 


80  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

general  council  was  formed,  and  declared  sovereign  on  the  1st  of  July, 
1495  ;  it  was  invested  with  the  election  of  magistrates,  hitherto  chosen 
by  lot,  and  a  general  amnesty  was  proclaimed,  to  bury  in  oblivion  all 
the  ancient  dissension  of  the  Florentine  republic."* 

But  the  popular  voice  proved  inconstant,  and  Savonarola's  influence 
quickly  gave  way  to  that  of  the  Arabbiati,  wiio  arrested  him,  and  put 
his  partisans,  the  Piaguoni,  to  flight.  Pope  Alexander  VI.  dispatched 
messages  to  Florence,  ordering  the  monk  to  be  put  to  death,  with  his 
two  disciples,  Buonvicino  and  Marrufii,  and  they  were  accordingly 
burned  alive,  after  suffering  those  excruciating  tortures  which  pre 
ceded  their  execution. 

With  the  aid  of  the  Spaniards,  in  1512,  the  exiled  Medici  returned 
to  Florence ;  but  they  had  lost  every  republican  feeling,  and  all  sym 
pathy  of  the  Florentines.  Their  only  object  was  to  raise  money  for 
themselves,  and  for  those  Spaniards  who  had  assisted  them  in  regain 
ing  their  tyrannical  power.  In  1569,  Pope  Pius  V.  granted  the  title 
of  Grand-Duke  of  Tuscany  to  Cosmo  de  Medici,  a  youth  of  nineteen : 
seven  grand-dukes  of  that  family  reigned  in  Florence,  the  last  of  whom, 
Gian  Gastone,  died  in  1737.  Thereafter,  Floience,  once  the  first  on 
the  scroll  of  liberty  and  fame,  was  scarcely  mentioned  in  Europe. 

The  little  republic  of  San  Marino,  which  has  existed  as  an  inde 
pendent  State  since  the  fifth  century,  contains,  at  the  present  day,  but 
four  thousand  inhabitants.  Whilst  her  once  powerful  and  magnificent 
neighbors  no  longer  exist,  and,  what  is  remarkable,  under  the  very 
eaves  of  the  Vatican,  she  still  preserves  her  laws  and  freedom.  San 
Marino  has  its  nobles  and  plebeians,  from  whom  the  legislative  coun 
cil  of  sixty  members  is  chosen  by  universal  suffrage.  There  is  also 
an  Upper  Chamber,  called  the  Council  of  Twelve,  two-thirds  of  whom 
are  renewed  every  year ;  and  two  capatini,  who  form  the  executive. 
A  supreme  magistrate,  who  is  invariably  a  stranger,  administers  jus 
tice,  and  is  elected  for  three  years.  The  revenues  are  about  $6,000, 
and  the  armed  force  consists  of  forty  men.  The  Republic  pays  great 
attention  to  letters,  and  supports  a  college  which  contains  some  fifty 

*  Sismondi. 


ITALIAN   LIBERTY   IN  THE   MIDDLE   AGES.  81 

students.  The  Italian  traveller,  M.  Valery,  informs  us  the  usual  com 
plaint  is  heard  about  the  aristocracy,  for  it  appears  that  a  few  rich 
families  have  managed  to  keep  all  political  power  in  their  own  hands. 
Another  complaint  is  of  a  still  more  serious  character — non-resident 
strangers,  unnaturalized,  have  become  possessors,  by  purchase,  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  little  State.  The  republicans  of  San  Marino  must 
obviate  such  a  crying  treason,  or  they  will  soon  cease  to  exist  as  a 
separate  nation. 

Florence,  the  brightest  gem  in  Freedom's  coronet,  fell  from  her 
high  estate,  because  she  kept  not  guard  over  liberty.  It  was  an 
easier  struggle  to  vanquish  the  aristocratic  Venice  and  Genoa,  with 
the  many  minor  States,  which  followed  their  baneful  examples ;  but 
all  alike  are  now  fallen,  and  the  mailed  hand  of  foreign  despotism 
holds  Italy  in  chains.  In  looking  back  upon  the  glorious  era  of  the 
Italian  republics,  the  mind  is.  almost  lost  in  admiration  of  the  power 
exerted  by  these  small  commonwealths ;  of  their  intense  love  of  liberty, 
when  the  rest  of  mankind  were  sunk  in  comparative  slavery,  and  their 
glorious  monuments  in  literature  and  the  arts,  at  a  period  when  Eu 
rope  was  in  mediaeval  barbarism.  But  a  foe  existed  in  their  midst, 
and  the  very  principles  which  have  worked  the  ruin  of  all  other  re 
publics  compassed  their  destruction.  Shall  not  Italy  be  a  warning 
to  other  lands  ? 

Neither  the  military  hordes  of  the  German  emperors,  the  fearful 
thunders  of  the  Vatican,  the  impetuous  onset  of  the  Gallic  knights, 
nor  the  ceaseless  ravages  of  the  marauding  Condottieri,  could  have 
prevailed  against  Freedom,  had  the  Italians  remained  true  to  them 
selves.  But  union  did  not  exist — union  had  almost  become  impossi 
ble:  the  sacred  name  of  Liberty  was  used  as  a  mere  party-cry,  and 
every  man's  hand  was  against  his  fellow.  History  declares  with  all 
the  majesty  of  divinity,  for  her  voice  is  but  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
that  conflicting  principles  and  ceaseless  agitation  cannot  exist  in  a 
community  without  destroying  its  vitality.  Nay,  the  language  of 
inspiration  speaks  in  tones  that  man  dare  not  gainsay — "A  house 
divided  against  itself  cannot  stand." 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  RACE  AND  FREEDOM. 

41  If  there  be  any  thing  in  the  supremacy  of  races,  the  experiment  now  in  progress  will  develop 
;t."— DAXIEL  WEBSTER. 

NEXT  to  the  divine  instinct  of  religion,  and  scarcely  less  holy,  is 
love  of  country  and  of  the  family  to  which  we  belong.  Blood  is  the 
first  and  closest  bond  of  life,  endearing  us,  not  only  to  our  brethren, 
but  to  the  generous  soil  which  is  our  common  heritance.  We  know 
not  how  it  attracts  us  in  sympathy,  feeling,  and  disposition ;  but  its 
potency  is  none  the  less  indisputable.  It  has  been  correctly  remarked 
that  the  family  js  the  first  state.  Next  to  occupying  the  same  land, 
the  best  guarantee  of  fellowship  is  speaking  the  same  tongue.  Further 
bonds  of  union  are  established  when  our  brethren  share  the  same  be 
lief  with  us,  worship  at  the  same  altars,  meet  at  the  same  time  and 
places  to  perform  the  ceremonies  of  religion  and  settle  the  graver 
affairs  that  agitate  the  whole  community,  and,  generally,  when  they 
feel  and  act  as  the  members  of  .one  family  or  race  can  alone  feel  and 
act  if  they  would  strengthen  the  circumstances  of  blood  and  com 
mon  language.  A  people  that  is  a  stranger  to  such  emotions,  occupies 
no  position  in  the  world's  history,  but  becomes  merely  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  other  and  more  earnest  nations.  A  distinct  and 
sacred  nationality  is  essential  to  the  development  of  patriotism,  as 
the  latter  is  essential  to  the  growth  of  virtue  and  freedom. 

The  American  is  a  branch  of  the_  great  Anglo-Saxon  family.  This 
we  hear  every  day.  It  is  one  of  those  trite  definitions  which  trip 
from  the  tongue  on  the  smallest  provocation.  How  many  are  there 
who  know  any  thing  at  all  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  family  ?  How  many 


84  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

are  there  who  appreciate  to  its  full  extent  the  truth  and  glory  of  the 
assertion  ?  The  number  has  been  small,  we  believe,  but  it  is  swell 
ing  into  magnificent  proportions.  The  day  is  at  hand  when  twenty 
millions  of  free-torn  sons  of  America  shall  rejoice  in  the  boast  thai 
they  are  Anglo-Saxons; — that  day  when  the  surging  of  turbulou.- 
foreign  races  shall  provoke  dignified  and  decisive  reprimand. 

Where  there  are  many  conflicting  elements  of  discord,  it  is  not 
easy  to  mention  a  subject  of  national  importance  without  eliciting 
ridicule  and  sarcasm.  Anglo-Sax onism  is  particularly  successful  in 
this  respect.  It  is  a  theme  which  can  scarcely  be  broached  in  general 
society,  without  calling  forth  some  silly  sneer.  Surrounded  on  every 
side  by  a  mixed  population,  the  American  almost  loses  his  own  iden 
tity  ;  but  it  is  for  a  moment  only.  The  "  time  that  tries  men's  souls  " 
leads  him  instinctively  back  to  the  great  fountain-head  of  his  being, 
and  he  feels  at  once  the  race  to  which  he  belongs.  We  purpose  in 
this  chapter  to  devote  ourselves,  firstly,  to  a  consideration  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  en  masse,  and  secondly,  of  that  branch  to  which  we  be 
long.  We  will  preface  our  remarks  with  what  a  writer*  of  the  5th 
century  says  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  his  day :  "  They  overcome  all 
who  have  the  courage  to  oppose  them  ;  they  surprise  all  who  are  so 
imprudent  as  not  to  be  prepared  for  their  attack.  When  they  pursue, 
they  infallibly  overtake  ;  and  when  they  are  pursued,  their  escape  is 
certain.  They  despise  danger ;  they  are  inured  to  shipwreck ;  they 
are  eager  to  purchase  booty  with  the  peril  of  their  lives.  Tempests 
which  to  others  are  dreadful,  to  them  are  subjects  of  joy.  The  storm 
is  their  protection  when  they  are  pressed  by  the  enemy,  and  a  cover 
for  their  operations  Avhen  they  meditate  an  attack."  It  will  be  per 
ceived  how  little  the  characteristics  of  the  race  have  changed,  and 
how  much  we  inherit  in  this  present  day  from  our  early  ancestors, 
especially  in  the  particulars  of  overcoming  opposition,  despising  dan 
ger,  and  laughing  at  the  fierce  threatenings  of  the  ocean. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  undoubtedly  of  Scythian  or  Gothic  origin. 
A  portion  of  this  great  family  invaded  Britain  early  as  300  years 

*  Siclonius,  Bishop  of  Clermont. 


THE   AXGLO-SAXOX   RACE   AND    FREEDOM.  85 

before  the  Christian  era,  whilst  it  was  in  possession  of  the  Cimmerians 
or  Celts.  The  Anglo-Saxons  of  that  early  day,  who  were  called  Bel- 
gae,  from  Belgic  Gaul,  whence  they  came,  did  not  assimilate  with 
other  tribes  more  readily  than  they  do  now.  The  Celts  had  to  aban 
don  their  advantage,  and  at  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar's  invasion  it 
was  the  stern  courage  and  inflexible  bravery  of  the  Gethae's  descend 
ants,  not  the  Cimmerians,  that  opposed  his  imperial  legions.  Pink- 
erton  supposes  that  the  interior  of  the  island  was  still  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  Welch  or  Britons,  as  they  were  called.  All  memory  of 
the  Celts  or  Cimmerians  who  preceded  the  Welch  in  their  occupation 
of  Britain  was  unknown  to  the  Roman  and  Saxon  writers. 

The  genuine  Anglo-Saxons,  however,  whence  the  present  race  is 
descended,  did  not  transport  themselves  to  Britain  until  the  fifth  or 
sixth  century.  They  came  from  the  Cirnbric  peninsula  (now  Den 
mark),  and  were  branches  of  the  great  Saxon  confederation  which 
had  extended  itself  from  the  Elbe  to  the  Rhine.  The  Anglo-Saxons, 
Lowland  Scotch,  Normans,  Danes,  Norwegians,  Swedes,  Germans, 
Dutch,  Belgians,  Lombards,  and  Franks,  have  all  sprung  from  this 
great  Saxon  confederation,*  and  may  all  be  distinguished  by  the 
terms  Scythian,  German,  or  jGothic.  Their  first  appearance  in  the 
world's  history  was  in  that  cradle  of  nations — Asia.  Here  they 
multiplied  and  extended  their  area  of  operations  for  several  centuries.f 
Amongst  themselves  their  general  appellation  was  Scolati ;  among 
the  Greeks,  Scuthoi  or  Noniades.  They  are  better  known,  however, 
as  Getse  or  Goths.  The  more  advanced  of  the  tribes  were  known  to 
the  Romans  as  Germans. 

We  will  here  deviate  for  a  moment  to  explain  the  meaning  of 
these  various  designations,  and  whence  they  are  derived.  Pliny 
speaks  of  the  Scythians  as  Sacassani,  which  was  probably  a  corrup 
tion  of  Sakai-suna,  or  Sons  of  the  Sakai,  afterwards  abbreviated  into 
Saksun  or  Saxon.J  The  name  is  supposed  to  come  from  the  same 
root  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  word  seax,  a  sword.  ID  the  Persian  book 
of  Kings  the  same  people  are  called  SsaJcalib,  or  SsaJclib — sword- 
*  Pinkerton.  t  Herodotus,  Strabo.  J  Miss  Chandler. 

5 


86  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

lips; — the  name  being  suggested  in  all  probability  by  the  Saxons' 
fondness  for  that  weapon,  a  fondness  which  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  the 
present  day  do  not  fail  to  manifest  whenever  they  have  an  opportu 
nity  of  getting  to  close  quarters  with  an  enemy.  That  they  were  a 
warlike  people  is  beyond  doubt ;  for  even  the  Roman  name,  German, 
is  derived  from  the  old  German  yer,  a  spear,  and  mann,  a  man. 
After  leaving  Asia  the  Saxons  adopted  a  new  name  and  abandoned 
their  Scythian  one.  They  called  themselves  Teutons,  from  Teut, 
Tuisto,  Tuisco,  or  Thiusco,  who  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  found 
ers  of  the  race,  and  who  was  worshipped  after  his  death  as  a  god. 
The  modern  name  Deutsch  is  derived  from  this,  having  passed 
through  the  modifications,  Putsch,  Dietsch,  and  Teutsch. 

A  Scandinavian  branch  of  the  family  settled  in  Scotland  about 
the  same  period  that  the  Belgre  emigrated  to  Britain.  The  mem 
bers  of  this  section  of  the  Saxon  stock  are  known  in  history  by  the 
name  of  Picts,  or  Caledonians.  They  are  said  to  be  the  ancestors  of 
the  Lowland  Scotch  and  the  Northern  Irish — races  that  are  distin 
guished  from  their  Celtic  countrymen  by  superiority  of  intelligence, 
industry,  and  firmness  of  character. 

We  have  thus  briefly  traced  the  origin  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  family, 
and  have  shown  whence  it  came.  "We  will  now  prove  that  from 
earliest  time  to  the  present  it  lias  been  the  consistent  champion  of 
freedom,  loyalty,  and  devotion.  It  cannot  be  disputed  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  were  from  the  first,  and  are  to  the  present  day,  fond  of  what 
is  delicately  termed  "annexation."  They  were  ever  ready  to  pur 
chase  booty,  as  the  learned  Sidonius  remarks,  with  the  peril  of  their 
lives.  A  brave  people  cannot  resist  the  temptation  of  adventure,  and 
the  peril  which  it  involves  is,  perhaps,  its  greatest  attraction.  A 
notable  illustration  may  be  found  in  Jonathan's  love  for  Cuba.  If 
that  island  could  be  acquired  quietly  and  as  a  matter  of  course,  no 
one  would  trouble  himself  about  it.  But  it  is  otherwise  ;  and  the 
Anglo-Saxon  principles  of  overcoming  difficulties  and  vanquishing 
opposition  manifest  themselves.  Those  writers  who  recommend  Jon 
athan  to  wait  until  Cuba,  like  a  ripe  pear,  falls  into  the  lap  of  her 


THE   AXGLO-SAXOX   11ACE  AND    FKEEDOM.  87 

American  lover,  display  but  little  knowledge  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
character.  Independently  of  this  restless  force  of  character,  how 
ever,  there  is  the  moral  element,  which  governs  and  controls  its 
action. 

Tf  the  Anglo-Saxon  "were  a  mere  marauder,  he  would  rest  content 
with  acquisition  and  pillage.  But  he  does  not  do  so.  The  land  he 
has  fought  for,  he  cherishes.  It  is  thereafter  his  land ;  a  part  of 
himself,  and  to  be  regarded  from  the  elevation  of  his  freedom-loving, 
noble  mind.  He  may  have  acquired  it  by  the  sword,  but  he  retains 
it  by  the  law,  and  by  a  man-to-mau  faith  and  affection.  Wheresoever 
the  Anglo-Saxon  pioneer  goes,  he  fights  first ;  then  builds  his  chapel, 
his  courthouse,  his  schools,  and  his  stores.  He  does  not  labor  to 
forget  civilization,  but  to  exclude  barbarism.  All  the  Roman  writers 
expressed  their  astonishment  at  the  moral  sternness  and  rectitude  of 
the  Teutonic  character.  The  reverence  with  which  they  treated  wo 
man  was  even  a  matter  of  surprise.  Tacitus  says :  "  They  think  their 
women  possess  something  inherent  and  foreseeing."  Is  it  not  just 
occasion  of  pride,  that  in  our  day  this  chivalric  feeling  still  remains, 
and  forms  a  proverbial  characteristic  of  the  American  character? 
Wherever  Freedom  is  found,  there  is  woman  emancipated.  England 
is  the  freest  country  ra  Europe,  and  there  the  position  of  woman  is 
little  inferior  to  what  it  is  in  our  own  land.  Among  the  ancient 
Britons  (or  Celts)  marriage  was  unknown.  Men  and  women  lived 
together  promiscuously,  like  beasts  of  the  field.  The  Anglo-Saxons, 
on  the  contrary,  viewed  the  custom  with  abhorrence,  and  were  strict 
in  the  observance  of  the  marriage  vowr.  Some  of  their  earliest  laws, 
at  least  the  earliest  of  which  any  record  is  known  to  exist,  relate 
especially  to  the  crime  of  adultery.  It  was  looked  upon  as  most 
heinous,  and  received  the  severest  punishment  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
code.  In  religion,  the  same  wide  difference  existed  between  the 
two  races.  The  Celts  adhered  to  their  Druidic  worship,  and  aban 
doned  their  souls  to  the  charge  of  the  priests.  The  Anglo-Saxons, 
on  the  contrary,  prayed  to  their  mythological  gods  with  individual 


88  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

fervor,  and  were  content  to  manage  their  own  conscience,  and  let 
others  do  the  same.  For  a  while  the  Romish  religion  gained'  the 
ascendency  in  Europe,  and  Celt  and  Saxon  alike  obeyed  its  tenets. 
But  later,  ere  the  voice  of  Luther  shouted  sternly  through  the  dark 
ness  of  Popery,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Wickliffe  had  proclaimed  liberty 
of  conscience.  The  Celts,  on  the  contrary,  adhered  to  the  old  tra 
ditions  ;  and  even  in  this  day  of  generally  diffused  theological  know 
ledge,  the  Celtic  races  are  obedient  to  the  blind  dictates  of  the  Holy 
See. 

Thus  we  perceive,  that  to  the  earliest  Anglo-Saxons  we  are  in 
debted  not  only  for  the  lasting  characteristics  of  our  race,  but  for  that 
inherent  reverence  for  the  gentler  sex,  and  toleration  of  religious 
opinion,  which  characterize  the  American  people  of  the  present 
century.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  Anglo-Saxons  loved  fair  play,  and 
could  understand  no  trial  that  was  not  based  on  general  principles  of 
equity  and  justice.  In  the  reign  of  Ethelred,  the  following  law  was 
passed:  "Let  there  be  gemoto  in  every  wapenlace;  and  let  twelve 
of  the  eldest  thegres  go  out  with  the  gercfa,  and  swear  on  the 
relics  which  shall  have  been  given  into  their  hands,  that  they  will 
condemn  no  innocent  man,  nor  screen  any  that  is  guilty."*  In 
other  words  :  "  Let  there  be  courts  in  every  district,  and  let  the 
sheriff  summon  twelve  men  to  try  all  prisoners;"  our  own  prized 
trial  by  jury  !  If  we  had  inherited  nothing  but  this  boon  from  our 
ancestors,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  endear  the  race  to  the  present  and 
to  all  after  generations. 

If  our  space  permitted,  we  could  dwell  on  the  memorable  deeds 
of  famous  Anglo-Saxons.  But  we  have  proved  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  skeptic,  that  Freedom  is  not  a  new  word,  but  an  old  idea,  derived 
and  retained  from  the  earliest  pages  of  their  history.  We  will  add 
to  these  remarks  the  final  sentence  of  King  Alfred's  will.  It  needs 
no  comment.  "  It  is  just  that  the  English  should  forever  remain  as 
free  as  their  own  thoughts." 

Turning  to  our  own  history,  we  find  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  element 

*  Sh;iron  Turner. 


THE   ANGLO-SAXON   RACE   AND    FREEDOM.  89 

has  ever  been  the  potent  one.  Our  present  greatness  and  our  future 
progress  alike  depend  on  it.  The  singular  purity  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  stock,  particularly  in  the  Eastern  States,  has  been  a  matter  of 
surprise  with  some  writers  ;  a  moment's  reflection,  however,  explains 
the  circumstance.  Oppression  or  intolerance  of  any  kind  was  so  in 
imical  to  the  character  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  that  it  became  unbear- 

O  / 

able.  Always  preferring  a  certain  to  an  uncertain  remedy,  he  de 
tached  himself  from  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  sought,  on  the  shores 
of  America,  a  home,  free  and  filled  with  promise.  Privation,  suffer 
ings,  and  hardships  were,  to  his  sturdy  nature,  mere  items  arrayed 
against  a  grand  total.  The  future  nerved  him  for  the  present,  and 
he  had  unbounded  confidence  in  his  own  inherent  will.  The  New 
England  colonies  were  founded  by  such  men ;  stern  almost  to  fierce 
ness,  but  patient,  brave,  and  elevated  in  their  social  and  moral 
thoughts.  The  counties  in  England  whence  they  came  wrere  chiefly 
those  whicli  refused  the  domination  of  the  Danes  and  Normans. 
Additions  were  afterwards  made  from  the  north  of  Ireland  and  the 
Scotch  Lowlands  ;  but,  as  we  have  before  intimated,  these  were  either 
Anglo-Saxon  in  their  origin,  or  Pictish — a  kindred  Gothic  race.  The 
last  fifty  years  have  witnessed  the  influx  of  hordes  of  Celts  and  of 
inferior  German  tribes.  The  effect  has  been  trouble  and  annoyance. 
"We  must  look  to  the  pure  American  stock,  and  to  the  pure  American 
stock  only,  for  the  remedy  of  these  evils.  It  is  indisputably  true, 
however,  that  at  this  moment  New  England  *is  more  Anglo-Saxon,  if 
possible,  than  Old  England.  "  The  names  found  in  a  few  pages^f  a 
Boston  Directory,  or  in  the  columas  of  advertisements  in  a  news 
paper,  if  compared  with  the  same  number  of  English  names,  taken 
equally  at  random,  will  show  the  far  greater  proportion  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  names  with  us.'-'*  According  to  an  eminent  historian,!  the 
old  Puritan  stock  leavens  the  national  character  to  the  extent  of  two- 
thirds  of  its  aggregation.  The  other  third  could,  we  opine,  be  traced 
to  the  same  Anglo-Saxon  fountain-head,  if  necessary. 

The  heading  of  this  chapter  intimates  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  *ho 

*  Miss  Chandler.  f  Bancroft. 


90  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

only  race  capable  of  sustaining  freedom.  We  base  that  opinion  on  the 
facts  we  have  adduced,  and  on  the  additional  one,  that  America  is  the 
only  country  in  the  world  that  lias  sustained  institutions  perfectly  free. 

The  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  affords  abundant  material 
for  the  reflective  mind.  It  exhibits  in  an  unusual  degree  the  fact 
that  the  national  characteristics  of  a  race  do  not  change. 

It  may  be  objected  that  scarcely  any  modern  people  has  not  been 
modified  or  changed  by  amalgamation  with  foreign  blood,  whether 
by  conquest,  immigration,  or  otherwise;  and  in  confirmation  of  this 
the  English  are  sometimes  cited.  But  the  truth  is,  the  Anglo-Saxons 
never  settled  among  the  Celtre — as  the  Franks  among  the  Gauls — 
but  drove  them  out,  and,  receiving  continued  accessions  of  their 
countrymen  from  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  and  adjacent  islands, 
repeopled  the  conquered  territory.  The  unhappy  Britons  (Celtre)  in 
their  memorable  appeal  to  JEtius,  the  Roman  patrician,  forcibly  de 
scribe  the  kind  of  settlement  the  Teutons  were  making.  "  The  bar 
barians,"  they  say,  "  on  the  one  hand,  chase  us  into  the  sea  ;  the  sea, 
on  the  other,  throws  us  back  upon  the  barbarians  ;  and  we  have  only 
the  hard  choice  left  us  of  perishing  by  the  sword,  or  by  the  waves."* 

The  Danes  in  the  reign  of  Egbert  and  later,  to  the  accession  of 
Canute,  w7ere  but  tribes  of  the  Angles  or  Saxons,  differing  only  from 
those  already  settled  in  England  in  the  fact  of  being  more  civil i/ed. 
To  the  same  race  also  belonged  the  Normans ;  but  these  latter  never 
intermixed  with  the  conquered  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Danes. 
Introducing  the  feudal  system  into  England  they  became  a  species  of 
caste,  and  kept  themselves  aloof  from  the  mass  of  the  vanquished. 
Eventually  the  Norman  stock  became  much  thinned  during  the  long 
and  bloody  wars  of  the  Roses.  What  remains  of  it  in  the  English 
aristocracy  has  become  so  softened  in  its  characteristics  by  contact 
with  the  people,  that,  except  in  the  class  distinctions  of  the  feudal 
system,  it  is  no  longer  a  separate  element  of  the  population.  Even 
this  last  fragment  of  Norman  caste  spirit  is  rapidly  passing  away. 

History  assists  us  in  drawing  certain  conclusions  from  the  ex- 

*  Bcdc. 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  RACE  AND  FREEDOM.       91 

perience  of  the  world.  In  briefly  recording  the  prominent  events 
attending  the  career  of  the  race  from  which  we  are  descended,  it  is 
impossible  to  overlook  the  fact  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  absorbs, 
but  does  not  assimilate  with  other  races; — borrows  nothing  from 
their  sentiment;  derives  nothing  from  their  nationality.  What  it 
was  a  thousand  years  ago  it  is  to-day ;  Civilization  and  Education 
have  not  modified,  but  intensified  its  characteristic  aspirations  for 
Freedom  and  ttie  Institutions  of  Freedom.  The  same  unconquerable 
eneigy ;  the  same  indomitable  courage ;  the  same  inflexible  deter 
mination  to  accomplish  destiny,  individualize  the  Anglo-Saxon  people 
of  to-day,  as  on  the  advent  of  the  race  under  the  victorious  banners 
of  Hengist  and  Horsa,  The  genius  of  the  people  has  always  been 
manifest ;  their  susceptibility  for  the  highest  achievements  of  the 
human  body  or  intellect,  undeniable.  Wherever  they  have  penetra 
ted,  Freedom,  Religion,  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Literature  have  found  a 
home.  Colonization,  which  has  been  a  ruinous  experiment  with 
every  other  nation,  has  prospered  with  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  for  this 
reason :  The  latter  retain,  no  matter  what  the  difficulty  of  doing  so, 
and  cherish,  their  nationality.  It  is  never  laid  aside  or  forgotten  for 
one  moment,  and  always  rises  superior  to  the  circumstances  by  which 
it  is  surrounded.  The  colonization  of  other  nations  has  failed  for  the 
reason,  that  the  colonists,  lacking  force  of  character,  have  been  too 
anxious  to  assimilate  with  the  people  amongst  whom  they  settled. 
The  Spanish,  French,  Dutch  (Hollanders),  <fcc.,  have  at  various  epochs 
in  the  world's  history  made  successful  attempts  at  settling  on  distant 
shores,  but  after  the  small  end  of  the  wedge  has  been  inserted,  the 
leverage  has  been  thrown  away  by  a  degenerate  imitation  of  the 
worst  characteristics  of  the  people  amongst  whom  they  settled.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  stands  alone  in  that  repellent  force  which,  concentred  in 
itself,  throws  off  all  inferior  bodies,  but  ever  widens  with  opportunity 
to  embrace  what  is  most  desirable  and  advantageous.  In  a  word,  it 
looks  forwaid,  never  backward;  upward,  but  never  downward.  What 
is  beneath  it,  it  passes  by ;  what  is  above  it,  it  aspires  to,  strives  for, 
and  achieves ! 


92  A    VOICE    TO    AMERICA. 

We  have  remarked  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  absorbs  other  races,  and 
this  too,  without  suffering  any  apparent  deterioration.  Its  character 
istics  have  not  changed,  because  the  infusion  of  one  race  with  another 
of  stronger  and  better  defined  characteristics  results  in  a  general  as 
similation  of  the  infused  with  the  people  amongst  whom  they  settle, 
unless  a  spirit  of  caste  prevail.  Thus  the  Franks,  after  driving  out 
the  Romans  from  Gaul,  soon  lost  their  national  characteristics,  and 
became  blended  or  lost  in  the  immense  majority  of  the  Gack.  Tims, 
also,  innumerable  races  may  assimilate  with  the  American,  if,  in  their 
earnestness  for  what  is  desirable,  they  imitate  the  characteristics  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon.  But  if  on  the  contrary  they  retain  a  spirit  of 
caste,  establish  clanships  or  race  distinctions  of  any  kind,  as  the  Tar 
tars  in  China,  assimilation  is  impossible.  The  national  spirit  will 
eventually  drive  them  out.  Before  long  the  Tartars  will  ceaso  to 
exist  in  China.  The  present  revolution  numbers  their  days. 

In  all  strongly  individualized  lines  of  descent,  there  is  a  persistency 
of  type  which  is  not  affected  by  an  admixture  of  foreign  blood.  At 
the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  thousands  of  French  refugees 
settled  in  England,  but  the  controlling  majority  obliterated  their 
national  peculiarities,  and  few  traces  now  remain  of  their  origin. 
Races  preserve  their  characteristics,  but  individuals  assimilate.  They 
are  absorbed  into  the  dominant  race — particularly  if  it  be  Anglo- 
Saxon. 

The  important  consideration  of  race  cannot  be  too  vigorously  im 
pressed  on  the  American  mind.  JSTo  other  country  in  the  world  is 
so  besieged  with  opposing  elements  of  caste,  sect,  and  foreign  na 
tionality.  In  the  pulpit,  in  the  senate,  in  the  street,  and  in  the  homo 
circle,  we  find  representatives  of  other  races  than  our  own.  In  the 
majority  of  cases  these  representatives  have  imbibed  a  certain  amount, 
of  American  sentiment,  sufficient  perhaps  for  an  easy  passage  through 
politics  or  society,  and  are  consequently  in  process  of  absorption.  But 
too  frequently  W7e  find  them  tenaciously  adhering  to  Old  World  doc 
trines  of  government,  religion,  and  social  life.  It  may  not  be  easy  to 
abandon  a  life-long  theory,  but  it  should  be  no  more  difficult  than 


T1IK    ANGLO-SAXON    HACK    AND    K.KKKDOM.  93 

abandoning  the  land  of  one's  birth.  When  the  latter  becomes  im 
perative,  the  former  should  be  absolute.  The  American,  by  attaching 
due  importance  to  every  circumstance  of  race,  learns  precisely  whence 
freedom  sprang,  and  inversely  to  appreciate  his  own  glorious  birth 
right,  and  to  guard  against  encroachments  from  inimical  sources.  No 
sentiment  that  is  not  thoroughly  Anglo-Saxon  can  he  entertain,  for  it 
is  his  Anglo-Saxon  principles  that  make  him  what  he  is.  Montes 
quieu  remarks  in  his  "  Spirit  of  Laws  " — "  The  English  (by  which  of 
course  is  meant  the  Anglo-Saxon  race)  are  the  people  who  have  best 
known  how  to  preserve  in  full  vigor  those  three  great  things  (prin 
ciples),  religion,  commerce,  and  liberty."  This  important  avowal 
from  such  a  philosopher  should  be  studied  word  for  word,  and  justi 
fied  from  the  pages  of  history;  as  indeed  it  is  briefly  vindicated  in 
this  chapter.  If  we  ask  ourselves  why  it  is  so,  we  shall  find  that  it 
is  because  in  religion  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  always  sincere  in  obeying 
his  own  conscience  without  extraneous  dictation.  Piety  is  an  instinct 
with  him,  not  a  sensual  gratification,  as  in  Southern  lands ;  or  an 
intellectual  exercise,  as  in  Northern  ones.  He  has  no  dependence 
on  any  one  but  God  and  himself;  and  needs  no  mediator  but  his 
own  conscience.  It  is  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  is 
no  hair-splitting  doctrinarian  that  he  has  preserved  his  free  religion. 
Speak  to  him  about  his  faith,  and  he  may  hesitate  in  its  exact  defini 
tion  ;  but  speak  to  him  of  his  conscience,  and  he  knows  precisely  what 
you  mean.  If  we  would  learn  the  secret  of  his  success  in  preserving 
and  fostering  commerce,  we  must  turn  to  that  other  source  of  his 
greatness — his  faith  and  confidence  in  the  transactions  of  his  fellow- 
man.  He  does  to  others  as  they  should  do  to  him.  He  begins  by 
inviting  confidence,  and  ends  by  securing  it.  The  z\mericau  people 
is  the  most  trusting  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  the  most  enter 
prising  for  that  reason.  The  low  vice  of  trading  nations — meanness — 
is  unknown  to  him.  He  is  shrewd  enough  in  securing  a  good  bar 
gain,  but  he  forfeits  nothing  of  his  integrity  in  doing  so.  The  ad 
vantage  he  obtains  is  strictly  a  commercial  one ;  bought  at  no  sacri 
fice  of  independence  or  morality,  but  such  an  advantage  as  he  would 

5* 


94  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

appreciate  in  others,  if  they  could  gain  it  over  him.  The  same 
characteristics  are  the  features  of  his  political  history.  He  is  free, 
loves  freedom,  appreciates  it,  and  asks  every  one  to  come  and  share  it 
with  him.  A  little  less  confidence  in  the  miscellaneous  guests  he  has 
invited  to  his  home  might  be  desirable.  It  would  be  well  if  he 
noticed  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  races,  and  remembered  that 
they  were  inevitably  the  result  of  local  circumstances,  which,  although 
they  may  be  changed  or  removed,  are  for  the  most  part  difficult  to 
eradicate. 

But  these  things  the  American  should  never  forget : 

That  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  is  the  only  one  which  has  proved  itself 
capable  of  sustaining  free  political  institutions  ; 

That  the  representation  of  the  people,  of  the  whole  people,  is  of 
Teutonic  origin,  and  can  be  traced  up  to  the  earliest  time  of  the  race; 

That  the  government  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  (and  also  of  the  Danes 
and  Northmen)  was  never  monarchical ;  the  chieftainship  was  never 
hereditary.  A  chief  had  power  only  in  the  field.  The  battle  over, 
he  was  but  a  simple  warrior,  claiming  no  immunity  and  no  superior 
portion  of  the  booty  taken  in  battle  ; 

That  the  chief  was  chosen  by  universal  suffrage.  Alfred  the  Great 
came  to  the  throne  not  in  virtue  of  his  birth — though  de  facto  king 
of  the  Heptarchy,  he  was  not  so  de  jure.  The  Saxon  constitution 
never  thought  of  divine  or  hereditary  right:  that  absurd  fiction  was 
the  result  of  tyrannous  combination  and  Rome  ; 

That  the  Representative  system  is  purely  Anglo-Saxon.  It  was 
not  instituted  by  Edward  the  First,  but  merely  revived  by  him  after 
it  had  long  lain  in  abeyance.  The  king  was  struggling  against  his 
Norman  barons,  and  in  his  necessity  claimed  the  assistance  of  his 
Saxon  people  ; — they  remembering  former  constitutional  rights  re- 
demanded  and  once  more  obtained  them.  This  national  assemblage 
of  the  representatives  of  the  people  was  called  in  the  legal  Norman 
French  of  the  time,  Parler  le  mcnt,  signifying  to  speak  one's  mind. 
Thus  freedom  of  thought  and  speech  was  a  recognized  right  among 
the  Saxons.  The  feudal  system  strove  in  vain  to  ignore  it.  No  other 


THE  ANGLO-SAXON  RACE  AND  FEEEDOM.       95 

race  in  history  has  had  any  thing  similar  to  this  right.  The  republics 
of  ancient  times  were  merely  the  aristocracy  governing  the  plebs. 
The  nearest  approach  to  it,  however,  was  found  in  the  immunities 
enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of  the  Free-towns  of  Europe  in  the  middle 
ages,  as  Antwerp,  Bremen,  Lubeck,  &c. ;  but  even  here  the  suffrage 
was  limited,  and  lay  in  the  hands  of  a  few. 

And,  lastly,  an  American  should  demand  from  every  foreigner,  a.- 
an  equivalent  for  the  hospitality  extended  to  him,  a  full  recognition 
of  the  supremacy  of  this  same  Anglo-Saxon  race.  There  is  nothing 
degrading  in  the  admission,  for  it  is  justified  in  the  existence  of  the 
very  freedom  he  comes  hither  to  enjoy ;  and  it  is  essential,  because 
until  he  does  acknowledge  it,  he  is  scarcely  likely  to  imitate  its  vir 
tues,  its  heroism,  and  its  veneration  for  the  institutions  of  freedom. 
Every  man  who  comes  to  America  with  the  intention  of  cherishing 
his  own  nationality,  is  an  enemy  to  the  Constitution,  and  abuses  a 
hospitality  which  should  be  sacred.  The  existence  of  a  population 
thus  disposed  must  be  pernicious  and  dangerous.  It  is  calculated  to 
lessen  the  love  of  the  American  for  his  own  home,  and  to  render  the 
nation  less  imposing  and  distinctive  in  the  eyes  of  foreign  powers. 

There  cannot  be  a  doubt  that  Providence  has  selected  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  to  spread  the  blessings  of  liberal  institutions  throughout 
the  world.  It  is  the  only  one,  of  modern  times,  which  has  been  able 
to  colonize  with  success,  and  firmly  establish  its  character,  its  lan 
guage,  and  its  customs  upon  the  new  territories.  What  the  English 
have  gained  by  the  rights  of  discovery,  or  the  aggressions  of  war, 
America  seems  destined  to  organize  and  perfect.  It  is  therefore  that 
our  country  displays  to  the  world  a  power  and  a  success  characteristic 
of  no  other  age  or  clime ;  a  liberty,  of  which  the  Grecian  and  Ro 
man  philosophers  never  dreamed,  and  which,  next  to  Christianity  in 
effulgence,  shines  through  the  earth  as  the  light  of  suffering  humanit} . 
But  this  freedom  is  the  victory,  the  hard-earned  conquest,  of  centuries 
of  struggles  against  oppression.  Men  of  other  races,  individuals  of 
other  peoples,  have  declared  the  great  principles  of  freedom — have, 
in  thousands  of  instances,  died  in  their  defence — but  the  nations  to 


96  A   VOICE   TO    AMEiilCA. 

which  these  men  belonged  have  made  no  universal  response,  but  left 
them  exceptions,  and  not  characteristic  examples.  Not  so  with  the 
Anglo-Saxon ;  the  race  has  acted,  and  its  heroes  have  embodied,  only 
what  its  heart  cordially  responded  to — what  was  the  very  instinct  of 
its  nature. 


/  THE  HEROES  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  OF  LIBERTY, 

"The  present  age  is  benefited  by  the  experience  of  the  past.  We  have  in  fruition  what  thousands 
hoped  for,  and  vainly  suffered  to  possess." — GOETHE. 

THE  wisdom  of  king  Solomon  will  ever  be  perpetuated  in  the  one 
declaration,  "  There  is  nothing  new  under  the  jun."  Homer  remarks 
that  we  always  takeTBe  liberty  of  thinking  ourselves  wiser  than  our 
ancestors.  Whatever  we  do,  whatever  idea  illuminates  our  mind, 
whatever  progress  we  attempt,  the  conclusion  always  is,  that  we  are 
by  so  much  abandoning  the  past  and  approaching  a  future  more 
radiant  and  ennobling  than  any  preceding  epoch  of  the  world's  his 
tory.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  civilization,  like  the  emblem 
of  eternity,  be  not  in  the  form  of  a  circle ;  whether  we  do  not  simply 
diverge  from  a  point,  to  converge  to  it  afterwards.  Modern  philoso 
phy  embraces  the  idea  that  the  earliest  era  of  man's  existence  was 
the  most  perfect ;  and  that  what  we  lost  then,  is  but  now  being  slowly 
recovered. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the 
modern  idea  of  freedom  is  of  very  early  inception.  All  freedom, 
indeed,  is  the  result  of  long  agitated  reform,  based  at  first  on  an  indi 
vidual  idea,  permeating  afterwards  as  a  principle,  and  accomplished 
finally  as  a  necessity  of  the  times.  Reforms  usually  commence  with 
argument,  and  end  with  bloodshed.  The  comparative  few  who  think, 
appeal  to  those  who  feel,  and  the  two  constitute  leaders  and  revolu 
tionists. 

There  is  no  error  more  common  than  that  which  attributes  to  the 
principles  of  the  war  of  American  independence  an  original  character. 
Many  well-informed  men  entertain  the  belief  that  in  the  Declaration 


98  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

of  Independence  were  conveyed  startling  and  entirely  new  ideas  of 
liberty,  and  that  the  men  who  achieved  it  were  indebted  solely  to 
the  inherent  greatness  of  their  natures  for  a  civil  and  political  tri 
umph,  whose  equal  has  yet  to  be  found  in  the  world.  Whoever  has 
studied  the  history  of  the  world — its  constant  yearnings  for  religious 
and  political  freedom— and  observed  the  slow  but  certain  progress  of 
reform,  needs  scarcely  to  be  told  that  this  is  an  error.  The  American 
war  of  independence  consummated  a  preconceived  idea;  gave  vitality 
to  a  principle  which  has  from  time  immemorial  occupied  the  atten 
tion  of  thinkers.  It  was  not  a  sudden,  unexpected  dispensation  of 
liberty ;  it  was  not  a  patriotic  suggestion  of  the  moment,  but  the 
accumulated  result  of  centuries  of  effort. 

Wherever  reform  begins,  revolution  must,  sooner  or  later,  follow. 
It  will  be  objected,  that  England  is  an  exception  to  this  rule.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  best  revolutionary  spirit  of 
England — that  is,  the  spirit  most  tenacious  of  prerogative — left  the 
mother-country  for  America  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries. 
It  was  the  strong,  stubborn  Saxon  spirit  that  had  risen  in  rebellion 
against  the  idiotic  misrule  of  James,  which  first  scaled  the  rocks  of 
Plymouth  Sound,  and  explored  the  inviting  banks  of  James  River. 
Congenial  natures  followed,  and  England  rapidly  lost  the  foremost 
men  of  her  time, — men  who  had  been  the  centre  of  all  reforms,  and 
who  brought  with  them  the  most  elevated  opinions  of  the  century. 
In  speaking  of  America  as  a  new  land,  it  should  always  be  borne  in 
mind  that,  practically,  it  is  as  old,  if  not  older,  than  any  nation  of 
Europe.  The  mere  consideration  of  centuries  is  of  little  importance. 
Intelligence  and  civilization  arc  the  characteristics  which  stamp  man 
hood  on  a  nation's  brow.  The  Chinese  in  their  chronologies  go  back 
far  beyond  the  period  when  we  are  taught  to  believe  the  world  was 
created.  It  is  said  that  in  their  school-books  it  is  customary  for  I  ho 
teacher  to  insert  a  pencil-mark  opposite  the  year  in  which  the  world 
is  popularly  supposed  to  have  been  made.  I>ut  notwithstanding 
their  extensive  line  of  progenitors,  the  Chinese  are  the  youngest,  the 
least  informed,  most  frivolous  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.          99 

The  progress  of  humanity  may  be  likened,  says  an  eloquent  writer,* 
to  the  successive  necessities  of  repairing  the  ancient  homestead  of 
our  fathers.  We  are  unwilling  to  disturb  the  old  framework,  and 
yet  the  decay  of  parts  imperatively  calls  for  repairs.  But  every 
attempt  to  add  and  beautify,  by  comparison,  discovers  defects,  and 
the  skill  of  the  mechanic  and  artist  stands  in  permanent  requisition. 
The  homestead  of  our  American  forefathers  was  found  too  seriously 
dilapidated  to  admit  of  repairs.  It  was  vacated,  and  a  new  one 
erected  on  the  Atlantic  shores  of  wild  America.  Bui;  the  men  who 
erected  that  homestead  were  no  untutored  pioneers.  They  knew  pre 
cisely  the  defects  of  the  old  homestead,  and  avoided  them — falling, 
however,  for  a  time,  on  others  equally  great  and  pernicious.  Their 
new  house  was,  in  all  important  respects,  put  in  order  with  the  best 
of  all  judgments — that  which  had  been  tutored  in  bitter  experience. 

The  perfection  of  earthly  happiness  is  freedom,  and  that,  as  we 
have  before  asserted,  is  the  slow  result  of  gradual  reform.  If  we 
penetrate  the  darkness  of  remote  antiquity,  we  find  minds  of  a  supe 
rior  order  striking  initial  blows  at  the  root  of  tyranny  and  oppression. 
In  Dr.  Abbot's  Egyptian  Museum  (New  York)  there  is  a  remarkably 
curious  illustration  of  this  fact.  A  rude  artist  of  the  earliest  Egyp 
tian  period  (3000  years  B.  C.),  caricatures  the  priesthood  for  their  low, 
fox-like  cunning  and  rapacity.  This  exceedingly  curious  work  of  art 
is  executed  on  a  tile,  and  was  doubtless  in  its  day  a  missile  of  some 
weight.  Thus  we  perceive  that  there  were  religious  reformers  even  in 
the  days  of  the  firstJHaaraoh.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  that 
there  were  politicafi^Rrmers  also. 

The  men  who  have  made  sacrifices  in  the  holy  cause  of  Freedom, — 
particularly  those  who  come  from  the  same  stock  as  ourselves, — 
are  assuredly  worthy  of  our  best  remembrance.  To  them  we  are 
indebted  for  the  prosperous  consummation  of  a  free  country.  They 
are  not  only  our  lineal  ancestors,  but  the  parents  of  our  best  and 
most  noble  thoughts.  Without  their  example  and  their  spirit,  we 
should  be,  even  now,  a  colony,  cursed  with  Church,  State,  and 
*  History  of  Democracy,  Vol.  I.  page  34. 


100  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

man-worship,  and  all  the  other  imbroglio  of  monarchism.  Unfortu 
nately,  the  limits  of  our  work  prohibit  any  thing  like  a  complete 
sketch  of  the  antecedent  heroes  of  political  liberty.  Tha»  most  we 
can  accomplish  is  to  select  a  few  names,  and  present  them  as  flfcger- 

'  marks  along  the  track  of  history,  for  the  admiration  of  the  reader. 
Our  endeavor  will  be  to  make  them,  as  far  as  possible,  the  repre 
sentatives  of  their  class  and  epoch,  and  briefly  but  explicitly  to  set 
forth  their  claims  to  the  consideration  of  the  law-abiding  people  of 
this  country. 

Our  sketch  is  to  illustrate  the  growth  of  those  institutions  which 
we  now  enjoy  in  America,  To  do  this  with  any  thing  like  elabo 
rateness,  would  compel  us  to  epitomize  the  general  history  of  the  past. 
Political  heroes  obtain  their  greatest  attraction  from  the  circum 
stances  in  which  they  were  placed  ;  and,  indeed,  would  not  be  inter 
esting  to  a  general  reader,  in  the  absence  of  such  connecting  in 
formation.  Hence  the  necessity  for  dwelling  with  some  detail  on 
events  which  were  of  vital  importance  to  the  early  founders  of  Amer 
ican  freedom.  The  antecedent  history  of  America  begins,  of  course, 
with  the  Saxons.  In  this  chapter  we  have  commenced  with  Alfred 
the  Great,  for  it  is  only  subsequent  to  the  reign  of  that  monarch  thai 
Freedom  began  to  be  modernized. 
T  For  the  record  of  an  able,  patriotic,  liberty-loving  man,  and  the 

•  people's  beloved  ruler,  we  cordially  turn  to  the  life  of  an  early 
hero.  Instances  of  unselfish  loyalty  to  constitutional  liberty  are  so 
scarce,  that  this  model  man  may  well  be  venerated.  His  merits  were 
not  of  a  class  order ;  he  was  good  not  merely  as  a  kino-, — which 
would  scarcely  concern  us, — but  as  a  citizen.  Th  private  as  in  public 
life,  he  practised  what  he  professed  :  "  so  happily  were  all  his  virtues 
tempered  together,  so  justly  were  they  blended  and  so  powerfully  did 
each  prevent  the  other  from  exceeding  its  proper  boundaries."* 

ALFRED  THE  GREAT,  youngest  son  of  King  Ethelwolf,  was  born  in 
Berkshire,  England,  in  819.  At  an  early  age  he  was  taken  by  his 
father  to  Rome,  where  he  remained  twelve  months,  but  without  ac- 

*  Hume. 


THE  HEEOES  OF  THE  FOUXDESS  , 


any  kind  of  knowledge,  save  perhaps  an  insiglit  into  the 
avariciousness'  of  Romish  priests,  of  which  he  afterwards  made  good 
use.  ^^ope  Leo  the  Third,  perceiving  in  the  boy  something  of 
promise  more  than  was  usually  manifested,  went  through  the  playful 
operation  of  giving  him  the  royal  unction.  This  consisted,  so  far  as 
we  have  been  able  to  discover,  in  muttering  a  few  prayers,  accompa 
nied  with  some  theatrical  ceremonies,  in  return  for  which  the  recipi 
ent  was  expected  to  make  liberal  grants  of  money  and  land  —  a 
common  sort  of  exchange  in  days  of  bigoted  superstition.  Ethel  wolf, 
Alfred's  father,  returned  to  England  to  find  his  kingdom  torn  to 
fragments  by  the  ravages  of  the  Danes.  The  incursions  of  these 
desperate  marauders  continued  with  unabated  fury  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  If  you  can  imagine  a  noble  steed  pursued  by  a  band  of 
remorseless  wolves,  sometitnes  giving  them  battle  with  success,  at 
others  fleeing  from  then/  with  apprehension,  you  will  have  a  good 
idea  of  the  condition  o/  England  in  the  year  800.  Ethelwolf  died, 
and  was  succeeded  rather  summarily  by  his  sons,  Ethelbald,  Ethel- 
bert,  and  Ethelred.  .jit  was  during  the  reign  of  the  latter  that  Alfred 
cjfcve  the  first  indication  of  his  patriotism.  Ethelred  had  unjustly 
deprived  him  of  aJarge  patrimony,  and  beside  this,  kept  him  from  a 
throne  which  had  been  bequeathed  to  him  by  the  will  of  his  father, 
Ethelwolf.  Eitltr  of  these  reasons  was  sufficient,  in  those  days,  to 
attract  a  band  of  eager  warriors  to  his  standard.  The  national  dan 
ger,  however,  was  from  the  continued  irruptions  of  the  Danes.  To 
put  a  stop  to  these,  Alfred  eagerly  seconded  all  the  efforts  of  his 
brother  Ethelred.  The  nation's  welfare,  and  not  the  individual's 
right,  was  consulted  for  the  first  time  in  that  rude  age. 
>  Reading  and  writing  in  those  days  were  accomplishments  of  a  high 
order,  and  were  seldom  essayed  except  by  members  of  the  priesthood. 
It  is  said  that  Alfred's  enthusiasm  for  learning  was  first  aroused  by 
hearing  the  Saxon  bards  repeat  their  wild  lyrics.  Himself  a  poet, 
as  he  afterwards  abundantly  proved,  he  at  once  estimated  the  incom 
parable  advantages  of  an  education.  He  soon  learnt  to  read,  and 
proceeded  then  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language.  The 


H>2?  r  l  *  «"  *  :  i  ,  ,  UNVOICE  TO  AMERICA. 


Roman  poets  and  philosophers  fired  him  with  noble  emulation,  and 
contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  formation  of  a  character  natu 
rally  heroic.  In  the  midst  of  his  studies,  he  was  called  to  the  throne. 
His  first  enterprises,  like  those  of  his  predecessors,  were,  of  course, 
directed  against  the  common  enemy  —  the  Danes.  They  were  prose 
cuted  with  varied  success.  At  one  time,  Alfred  had  so  hemmed  them 
in,  that  they  were  glad  to  come  to  terms  with  him.  A  treaty  was 
entered  into,  by  which  the  Danes  stipulated  to  depart  from  the  coun 
try  ;  but  the  Danes  were  not  remarkable  for  keeping  their  treaties, 
and  in  this  and  other  instances  behaved  perfidiously.  Fresh  hordes 
came  over  to  the  assistance  of  their  brethren,  and  Alfred  found  him 
self  deserted,  or  surrounded  by  men  who  were  too  broken-spirited  to 
be  available  against  a  foe  so  savage  and  uncompromising.  Under 
such  circumstances,  he  thought  it  best  to  retire  for  a  while  from  the 
contest,  and  await  a  more  propitious  moment  to  free  his  country 
from  the  insatiate  locusts  who  infested  it.  In  the  meanest  disguise, 
he  sought  refuge  from  the  fury  of  his  enemies.  He  concealed  him 
self  under  a  peasant's!  habit,  and  lived  some  time  in  the  house  of  a 
neat-herd  who  had  been  intrusted  with  the  care  of  some  of  his 
cows. 

The  Danes,  discovering  no  traces  of  Alfred's  whereabouts,  concluded 
that  he  had  left  the  country,,  or  was  dead.  After  a  time,  they  gave 
up  the  pursuit.  It  was  then,  that  the  fugitive  king  began  to  collect 
some  of  his  followers,  and  to  hope  seriously  for  an  opportunity  to  free 
his  country.  He  ordered  his  subjects  to  liold  themselves  in  readiness 
against  the  enemy,  gave  them  intelligence  of  his  retreat,  and  suc 
ceeded  in  gaining  information  of  the  strength  and  position  of  the 
Danes.  He  was  determined  not  to  lose  this  final  opportunity  by* 
any  rashness  or  false  estimate  of  the  power  he  had  to  cope  with.  In 
order  more  fully  to  inform  himself  of  the  latter,  he  entered  the  camp 
of  the  chief  Dane,  disguised  as  a  harper.  He  was  an  admirable 
musician,  and,  it  is  said,  possessed  much  native  humor.  By  the 
exercise  of  skill  and  wit,  he  succeeded  in  passing  unmolested  through 
every  quarter.  Shortly  afterwards,  he  led  his  troops  against  the 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        103 

enemy,  and  was  completely  successful.  The  Danes  begged  for  peace. 
Those  who  were  already  in  the  country  he  allowed  to  remain,  on  con 
dition  that  they  and  their  king  should  embrace  Christianity.  Firmly 
established  on  the  throne — which  he  filled  for  twenty-nine  years — he 
devoted  himself  to  the  glory  and  honor  of  his  country,  the  propaga 
tion  of  religion,  and  the  dissemination  of  knowledge.  Centuries  after 
his  death,  he  was  known  and  spoken  of  as  "England's  darling."  The 
wonderfully  balanced  intellect  of  this  great  man,  his  holy  imparti 
ality  in  all  matters  submitted  to  his  judgment,  and  the  manifest  love 
of  freedom  evidenced  in  his  whole  career,  entitle  him  to  the  fond 
appellation.  Speaking  of  Alfred,  Gibbon  says :  "Amidst  the  deepest 
gloom  of  barbarism,  the  virtue  of  Antoninus,  the  learning  and  valor 
of  Caesar,  and  the  legislative  genius  of  Lycurgus  shone  forth  in  that 
patriot  king." 

Alfred  was  a  pious,  God-fearing  man.  He  loved  learning  and 
those  who  possessed  it.  Necessarily,  the  clergy  or  bishops  were  the 
receptacles  in  which  it  lay.  But,  with  singular  clearness  of  vision, 
Alfred  hesitated  to  increase  the  power  and  influence- of  the  bishops. 
During  his  reign,  they  enjoyed  fewer  privileges  and  far  less  political 
power  than  they  had  possessed  in  other  reigns.  Alfred  preferred 
making  concessions  to  the  people,  rather  than  to  the  priests.  The 
truth  is,  that  Alfred,  whilst  he  venerated  religion'  and  its  ministers, 
had  none  of  that  superstitious  awe  which  usually  accompanies  infe 
rior  minds.  The  liberality  of  Alfred's  views,  and  his  constant  distrust 
of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope,  lead  us  to  agree  with  Dr.  Paiili, 
that  he  felt  and  thought  more  as  a  German  than  a  Roman  Catholic, 
and  that  in  his  character  were  already  to  be  traced  the  rudiments  of 
those  opinions  which  afterwards  showed  themselves  in  the  independ 
ence  of  Protestantism. 

During  the  reign  of  Alfred,  and  for  the  first  time  in  England,  the 
work  of  practical  and  political  reform  was  commenced.  The  admira 
ble  institution  of  trial  by  jury  was  put  into  execution  on  a  thorough 
basis.  There  were  courts  of  appeal  also  established,  at  which  twelve 
freeholders  swore  to  administer  impartial  justice.  Lest  corruption 


104:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

should  reach  even  the  presiding  magistrate,  there  was  an  annual  meet-' 
ing  appointed  for  the  inspection  of  police,  for  the  inquiry  into  crimes, 
the  correction  of  abuses  in  magistrates,  and  the  obliging  of  every  per 
son  to  show  the  district  in  which  he  was  registered.  There  was  still 
another  appeal  in  default  of  justice  in  these  courts,  namely,  to  the  king 
himself.  He  was  overwhelmed  with  petitions  from  all  parts  of  Eng 
land,  for  the  people  rightly  estimated  the  privilege  of  appealing  to  a 
man  of  such  strict  impartiality.  He  was  indefatigable  in  the  dispatch 
of  these  causes,  but  finding  that  his  time  would  be  entirely  consumed 
by  their  adjudication,  he  conceived  the  happy  idea  of  obviating  the 
difficulty  by  correcting  the  ignorance  or  corruption  of  the  inferior  ma 
gistrates.  He  took  care  to  have  his  nobility  instructed  in  letters  and 
the  laws  ;~*  he  chose  the  earls  and  sheriffs  from  among  the  men  most 
celebrated  for  probity  and  knowledge ;  he  punished  severely  all  mal 
versation  in  office,f  and  he  removed  all  the  earls  whom  he  found  un 
equal  to  the  trust.  The  better  to  guide  the  magistrates  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  justice,  he  collected  a  body  of  laws  for  their  study, 
which  long  served  for  the  basis  of  English  jurisprudence,  and  was 
the  origin  of  what  is  now  denominated  the  common  law.J  The  re 
sult  of  these  admirable  precautions  was  perfect  security  to  the  indivi 
dual,  and  a  greater  amount  of  freedom  than  had  ever  before  been  en 
joyed.  So  exact  was  the  character  of  the  inhabitants,  and  so  unfail 
ing  the  arm  of  justice,  that  it  is  said  that  Alfred,  by  way  of  bravado, 
hung  up  golden  bracelets  by  the  wayside,  confident  that  no  man  would 
touch  them.g  Under  his  beneficent  rule,  learning  and  literature  took 
firm  hold  of  the  minds  of  the  people.  lie  was  himself  an  ardent  stu 
dent,  and  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  the  enlightenment  of 
the  age  in  which  he  lived.  That  he  might  have  time  to  attend  to 
his  multifarious  duties,  he  divided  the  dav  into  three  equal  portions: 
one  was  employed  in  sleep,  and  the  refection  of  his  body  by  diet  and 
exercise ;  another,  in  the  dispatch  of  business ;  a  third,  in  study  and 
devotion.]  Thus,  although  he  often  labored  imdor  great  bodily  in- 

*  Asser.  f  Lc  Miroir  de  Justice.  \  Hume. 

§  William  of  Mill insbury.  \  Hume. 


THE   HEROES   OF   THE   FOUXDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        105 

•firmity,*  this  martial  hero,  who  fought  in  person  fifty-six  battles  by 
sea  and  land,f  was  able  during  a  life  of  no  extraordinary  length  to  ac 
quire  more  knowledge,  and  even  to  compose  more  books,  than  most 
studious  men.  He  died  in  the  vigor  of  his  age,  and  the  full  strength 
of  his  faculties,  A.  D.  901 ,  after  a  reign  of  twenty -nine  years  and  a  half. 

In  presenting  to  our  readers  this .  sketch  of  the  life  of  one  of  the 
most  interesting  heroes  of  history,  we  do  so  in  the  belief  that  it  is'ii 
structi re  and  gratifying  to  trace  to  such  a  noble  Saxon  fountain-head, 
the  first  indications  of  a-  political  liberty  which  has  since  culminated 
so  practicably  and  sublimely  in  the  American  descendants  of  this 
same  Anglo-Saxon  stock.  It  is  contrary  to  our  intention  to  take  the 
history  of  England  as  our  only  key  to  political  freedom.  Other  na 
tions  have  furnished  their  quota  to  the  general  aggregate.  But  it 
cannot  be  too  often  impressed,  or  too  tenaciously  remembered,  that  all 
the  solid  practical  fundamental  principles  of  freedom  which  prevail 
among  us,  have  been  transplanted  from  the  mother  country.  What 
ever  may  be  the  political  jealousies  which  irritate  the  two  nations — 
America  and  England — and  they  are  aggravated  enough,  there  can 
be  no  justification  of  national  hatred.  The  English  trace. all  their 
political  freedom  to  the  Germanic  eleifient.  We  must  do  the  same. 
The  life  of  Alfred  furnishes  us  with  an  illustration  of  the  necessity  for 
this  justice.  To  that  illustrious  hero  we  are  indebted  for  the  restitu 
tion  of  trial  by  jury,  and  the  condensation  of  a  legal  practice,  now 
familiarized  to  us  by  the  title  of  Common  Law. 

The  necessity  for  reajgnable  brevity  prohibits  our  dwelling  on  the 
successive  acquisitions  oPpolitical  freedom  by  the  people.  Only  the 
prominent  triumphs  can  be  glanced  at. 

The  Saxon  rule  in  England  terminated  with  the  death  of  Harold — 
the  last  of  the  Saxon  kings.  Feudal  or  Norman  rule  succeeded.  The 
Normans,  a  tribe  of  Northern  Germans,  after  they  had  subdued  the 
provinces  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  established  the  feudal  as  the  best 
system  of  government.  Great  change  of  circumstances  rendered  it 
necessary  for  them  to  deviate  from  many  of  the  established  customs 
*  Asser.  t  William  of  Malmsburv. 


106  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

of  their  native  Germany,  but  they  retained  all  those  which  were  com 
patible  with  their  new  situation. 

The  feudal  government  was  simply  a  confederacy  of  independent 
warriors.  The  chief  or  head  of  this  confederacy  was  chosen  from  the 
rest  on  account  of  his  valor ;  his  glory  and  strength  consisted  in  the 
number  of  suffrages  he  could  thus  command.  Under  certain  con 
ditions  of  society  the  feudal  system  of  government  was  undoubtedly 
beneficial,  especially  when  based,  as  was  the  Germanic,  on  theoretical 
principles  of  liberty,  which  after  all  have  only  been  more  practically 
applied  in  after  generations.  On  the  acquisition  of  fresh  territory  by 
the  chief,  it  was  customary  to  apportion  it  out  among  the  nobles  who 
had  assisted  in  its  conquest.  The  conditions  imposed  on  the  latter 
were,  that  they  should  hold  these  grants  in  trust  for  the  crown.  If 
military  service  were  needed,  they  were  required  to  repair  to  the  field 
with  a  certain  number  of  retainers.  The  peculiarity  of  their  tenure 
rendered  it  necessary  for  the  nobles  to  maintain  a  large  retinue.  In 
process  of  time  these  military  establishments  became  immensely  pow 
erful.  The  nobles  erected  fortresses,  castles,  and  other  improvements, 
and  thus  in  an  indirect  way  acquired  a  kind  of  hereditary  right  to  the 
lands  which  they  merely  held  in  trust.  At  length  this  hereditary 
claim  became  recognized,  and  all  that  was  asked  from  the  nobles  was 
occasional  military  assistance  when  it  was  needed,  and  at  other  times 
the  payment  of  some  trifling  dues.  Thus  the  authority  of  the  sov 
ereign  gradually  decayed,  and  each  noble,  secure  in  his  own  territory, 
became  too  powerful  and  too  dangerous  to  be  turned  out  by  an  or 
der  of  the  sovereign.  The  interests  of  the  nobles  being  reciprocal, 
there  was  no  possibility  of  obtaining  a  combination  against  any  one 
of  the  body.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  a  certainty  of  a  strong- 
combination  against  the  sovereign  if  he  sought  in  any  way  to  en 
croach  on  the  privileges  of  the  nobles.  Such  an  instance  occurred 
in  the  reign  of  King  John,  and  resulted  in  the  humiliation  of  the 
monarch  and  the  triumph  of  the  nobles.  There  is  an  old  saying, 
that  when  rogues  fall  out  honest  people  get  their  rights.  In  the  case 
of  the  Magna  Charta  this  was  signally  illustrated. 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        107 

This  important  document,  to  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  owes  so 
much  of  its  freedom,  renders  it  necessary  for  us  to  introduce  that  con 
temptibly  weak  prince,  King  John,  to  our  readers  as  one  of  the  heroes 
of  political  liberty.  He  was  the  instrument  wielded  by  the  strong 
arm  of  right,  and  although  paltry  and  insignificant  in  himself,  was 
important -to  the  triumph  of  the  moment.  In  dignifying  King  John 
even  with  this  importance,  we  feel  some  reluctance.  But  he  was  the 
man  who  conceded,  who  had  the  power  to  concede  the  Great  Charter. 
The  barons  who  extorted  that  great  national  boon  from  him,  were  in 
no  respect  greater  heroes  than  he.  They  were  actuated  by  purely 
personal  motives,  exactly  as  he  was.  The  concession  of  the  Great 
Charter  affords  another  illustration  of  the  truth  of  the  dogma,  that 
"  out  of  evil  cometh  good." 

King  John,  having  disgusted  his  people  with  his  cowardice  and 
duplicity,  succeeded  in  offending  the  Pope,  for  which  piece  of  pleas 
antry  he  was  excommunicated.  In  those  days  of  superstition  and 
Pope-worship,  an  excommunication  from  Rome  was  a  grave  calamity. 
For  a  while  John  tried  fiercely  to  retaliate,  but  he  was  already  so  odious 
with  his  people,  that  he  could  obtain  but  little  sympathy.  He  was 
compelled  to  bow  submission  to  the  Papal  supremacy.  With  the 
usual  instincts  of  a  coward,  he  was  not  content  with  submission.  He 
thought  it  necessaiy  to  conciliate.  Amongst  other  monstrous  things, 
he  assigned  his  kingdom  to  the  Pope,  and  relinquished  all  claims  to 
ecclesiastical  power.  Having  secured,  as  he  imagined,  the  powerful 
influence  of  the  Pope,  he  determined  to  revenge  himself  on  his  barons, 
imagining,  with  perfect  justice,  that  they  were  not  well  disposed  to 
wards  him.  Contemptible  natures  always  nourish  some  idea  of  re 
venge,  if  at  any  future  time  they  think  they  may  have  an  opportunity 
to  gratify  it.  Petty  persecutions  and  gross  outrages  were  the  wea 
pons  used  by  John.  The  barons  rebelled.  The  king  desired  to  know 
what  they  wanted.  They  sent  a  schedule  containing  a  list  of  their 
principal  demands.  It  was  no  sooner  showed  to  the  king  than  he 
burst  into  a  furious  passion.  He  asked  why  they  did  not  demand  from 
^ un  his  kingdom,  and  swore  that  he  would  never  grant  them  liber- 


108  A  VOICE  TO  AMEEIGA. 

ties,  which,  if  granted,  would  make  him  a  slave.  Neither  daunted 
by  the  fury  nor  the  oath  of  the  king,  the  barons  forthwith  levied  war 
against  him.  The  besieged  him  in  his  castle,  and  drove  him  to  such 
straits,  that  he  was  at  length  left  with  a  poor  retinue  of  seven 
knights.  He  was  compelled  to  submit  at  discretion. 

Between  Windsor  and  Staines,  in  England,  is  a  green  spot  called 
Runnymede  :  it  has  changed  but  little  since  the  days  of  King  John, 
and  the  Englishman  points  to  it  with  reverence  as  one  of  the  shrines 
of  political  liberty.  It  was  there  that  King  John  met  the  Barons,  and 
signed  and  sealed  the  famous  deed  called  the  Great  Charter.  We 
need  scarcely  refer  to  this  document  at  length.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say,  that  it  restored  many  Saxon  laws  and  usages  (which  had,  under 
the  Norman  rule,  sunk  into  abeyance),  and  for  the  first  time  extended 
equal  rights  to  the  vassals  as  to  the  lords.  It  is  generally  esteemed 
the  foundation  of  modern  political  liberty,  and  was  so  considered  by 
the  early  founders  of  our  own  republic,  who  made  repeated  reference 
to  it  in  time  of  trouble.  At  all  events,  it  has  remained  for  some 
centuries  the  most  quotable  text  of  Liberty,  and  to  the  present  day 
serves  as  the  basis  of  more  comprehensive  legislation. 

Nations,  like  individuals,  experience  emotions  of  gratitude.  Give 
them  something  they  can  value,  and  they  will  prize  it  thankfully  for 
centuries.  The  Magna  Charta  was  a  great  boon;  unquestionably 
radical  in  its  day,  sufficient  in  its  operations,  and  liberal  in  its  pro 
visions.  For  several  subsequent  centuries  nothing  more  was  asked. 
The  people  were  content  to  enjoy  what  they  had,  and  to  prepare 
themselves  for  more.  It  is  in  these  periods  of  civil  rest  that  con 
summate  ideas  of  political  freedom  dawn  in  the  future  of  history. 
Men  have  time  to  think.  They  arrive  at  certain  fixed  principles  of 
justice  and  liberty.  When  the  time  comes  for  enunciating  these 
principles,  they  have  acquired  all  the  weight  and  importance  of  priv 
ileges,  and  must  inevitably  be  conceded  as  such.  Thus,  after  the 
signing  of  the  Magna  Charta  by  John,  we  find  a  period  of  thoughtful 
repose.  The  ideas  promulgated  in  that  instrument  were  fermenting 
in  men's  minds.  Many  heroes — lacking  only  the  stamp  of  success — 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF  LIBERTY.         109 

essayed  with  untimely  zeal  to  extend  tire  area  of  popular  freedom. 
The  lives  of  these  men  afford  ample  material  for  the  biographer,  and 
instructive  lessons  for  the  world.  Our  limits  prevent  any  special 
reference  to  these  worthies.  Details  must  be  sought  in  the  contem 
porary  works  of  history.  To  the  dispassionate  republican,  there  will 
always  be  an  attraction  in  the  lives  of  men  who  have  striven  for 
liberty,  even  if  the  means  they  adopted  were  erroneous,  and  provoked 
by  hate  and  party  zeal.  William  Wallace,  Jack  Cade,  Monmouth, 
Wat  Tyler,  and  others,  were  men  who  raised  a  bold  front  against 
oppression,  and  thus  achieved  a  niche  in  the -many -colored  Pantheon 
of  Liberty. 

Notwithstanding  the  concession  of  the  Great  Charter,  Liberty  had 
two  fundamental  difficulties  to  contend  with  for  a  long  time.  First, 
the  feudal  despotism  of  the  nobles ;  and  secondly,  the  gradual  increase 
of  the  Papal  power.  As  an  illustration  of  the  former,  we  may  refer 
to  the  well-known  incident  of  Lord  Warren,  who,  when  questioned 
as  to  his  title  to  certain  lands,  drew  his  sword,  and  said  that  was  his 
title,  let  who  would  dispute  it.  As  an  illustration  of  overspreading 
Papal  power,  we  have  the  exhibition  of  a  great  emperor,*  clothed  in 
sackcloth  and  barefooted  before  the  palace  of  the  Pope,  standing 
there  for  three  bitter  winter  days,  suing  for  mercy.  These  incidents 
furnish  us  with  an  insight  into  the  real  possession  of  power  in  those 
days,  and  indicate  quite  clearly  the  shoals  and  quicksands  on  which 
the  frail  bark  Political  Liberty  was  likely  to  strand.  Against  these 
two  evils  then,  Feudal  and  Papal  power,  the  popular  energies  were 
long  directed.  Men's  thoughts  invested  them  with  a  thousand  hideous 
shapes,  and  made  them  more  horrible  and  momentous  than  they 
really  were.  In  process  of  time  it  became  quite  plain,  that  whatever 
advanced  the  authority  of  either  was,  on  the  whole,  unfavorable  to 
the  interests  of  mankind.  Any  thing  of  a  contrary  tendency  was 
watched  and  examined  with  the  greatest  anxiety,  for  it  gave  the  hope 
of  future  improvement. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  the  evils  of  an  aggravated  feudal 

*  Henry  IV.  of  Germany. 
6 


110  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

system,  or  how  they  were  slowly  removed.  It  is  sufficient  for  us  to 
mention  the  establishment  of  privileged  or  free  cities,  communities, 
and  corporations,  which,  in  course  of  time,  fostered  a  thriving  com 
merce,  and  benefited  the  poorer  class  of  the  people,  by  drawing  them 
off  from  the  retinues  of  the  nobles.  As  these  towns  and  cities  in 
creased  in  importance,  so  did  the  inhabitants.  They  became  mate 
rially  leagued  with  the  Crown,  and  the  power  of  the  Barons  was  thus 
assailed  from  without.  In  addition  to  this,  the  number  of  retainers 
being  diminished,  their  absolute  power  and  political  importance  began 
slowly  to  crumble.*  In  the  war  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  after 
wards  in  the  wars  of  the  Roses,  the  feudal  Barons  were  decimated 
and  nearly  exterminated.  As  they  disappeared,  the  lower  and  mid 
dle  classes  obtained  more  importance  and  consideration.  As  for  the 
Papal  power,  that  melted  slowly  but  surely  away  in  the  brightening 
light  of  knowledge. 

In  the  interval  which  we  are  now  bridging,  liberal  ideas  were  be 
ginning  to  be  entertained  with  some  earnestness.  There  was  a  con 
stant  struggle  between  prerogative  and  privilege,  for  the  people  be 
gan  to  entertain  a  dim  perception  of  their  rights.  Many  concessions 
were  already  made,  and  society  settled  down  into  well-defined  limits, 
to  break  beyond  which  would  be  dangerous.  Burgesses  were  sum 
moned  by  Leicester,  at  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  (12G5),  to 
attend  a  parliament  in  London.  These  burgesses  were  selected  from 
an  order  of  men  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  always  regarded  as 
too  mean  to  enjoy  a  place  in  the  national  councils.  It  was  Leicester's 
policy  to  anticipate  this  concession,  which  the  urgency  of  the  people 
had  already  made  inevitable.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  III.,  tho 
knights  of  the  shire  and  the  burgesses  emerged  into  a  separate  house, 
and  became  what  is  now  called  the  House  of  Commons.  A  vital  prin 
ciple  began  to  animate  the  mass — the  principle  of  self-government. 
Intelligence,  spirit,  and  dignity  inspired  men  with  a  knowledge  of 
their  own  importance. 

In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  (and  indeed  in  several  earlier  ones),  we 
Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations,  3d  Book. 


THE   HEROES   OF   THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.  Ill 

find  the  monarch  jealous  of  the  privileges  of  the  Commons,  and  claim 
ing  a  royal  prerogative  in  matters  which  the  latter  had  taken  under 
their  especial  charge.  Whatever  concerned  the  royal  prerogative  was 
considered  by  Elizabeth  as  forbidden  ground,  and  she  included  with 
in  this  description  every  thing  that  related  to  religion,  to  her  particu 
lar  courts,  and  to  the  succession  to  the  crown ;  she  insisted,  in  her 
own  words,  "  that  no  bills  touching  matters  of  state  or  reformation  in 
concerns  ecclesiastical  should  be  exhibited."*  Pretensions  of  this 
character  were  not  likely  to  pass  current  with  men  who  already  had 
a  clear  perception  of  their  own  rights  and  their  own  power.  It  was 
evident  that  a  collision  must  sooner  or  later  take  place  between  the 
queen  and  her  "  faithful  commons,"  for  notwithstanding  Elizabeth's 
remarkable  popularity,  there  was  a  stern  class  of  thinking  men  who 
remained  proof  to  her  blandishments,  and  thought  more  of  liberty  to 
the  people  than  gallantry  to  the  queen. 

Such  a  man  was  Peter  Went  worth.  In  this  uncompromising  but 
loyal  old  Puritan,  we  have  a  perfect  type  of  the  stock  which  peopled 
the  Eastern  portions  of  our  own  country.  Fearless,  clear-headed,  honest, 
and  loyal,  he  was  not  only  capable  of  asserting  the  privileges  of  the 
house,  but  of  impressing  others  with  the  exactness  of  his  definition  of 
them.  The  event  which  drew  Wentworth  out  was  a  commission 
issued  by  the  queen,  directing  the  speaker  to  stop  a  discussion  in  the 
house,  and  giving  orders  that  in  future  "  no  bills  concerning  religion 
should  be  preferred  or  received  into  that  house,  unless  the  same  should 
be  first  considered  and  approved  of  by  the  clergy."  This  interference 
on  the  part  of  the  queen  elicited  a  speech  from  Wentworth,  in  which  he 
maintained  that  the  house  was  assembled  to  make  or  abrogate  such 
laws  as  were  for  the  surety,  safe-keeping,  and  enrichment  of  the  no 
ble  realm  of  England.  It  was  necessary  for  this  purpose  to  preserve 
such  advantages  by  free  speech :  without  this  it  were  a  scorn  and 
mockery  to  call  the  parliament  a  place  of  free  speech.  It  was  noth 
ing  but  "  a  very  school  of  flattery  and  dissimulation,  and  so  a  fit  place 
to  serve  the  devil  and  his  angels  in,  and  to  glorify  God  and  benefit 

*  Cobbett, 


112  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

the  commonwealth.  Waxing  still  more  bold,  lie  went  on  to  say, 
"  that  to  avoid  everlasting  death  and  condemnation,  with  the  high 
and  mighty  God,  we  ought  to  proceed  in  every  cause  according  to 
the  matter,  and  not  according  to  the  prince's  mind."  In  a  similar 
strain  of  independent  protest  and  argument,  the  patriot  dwelt  on  the 
message  of  the  queen,  giving  the  house  and  her  majesty  some  sound 
advice  and  admonition.  It  was  not  altogether  acceptable  to  either, 
for,  before  Wentworth  had  finished,  the  house  stopped  him.  lie  was 
sequestered  for  said  speech,  and  had  to  answer  for  it  before  a  special 
committee.  All  that  passed  is  singularly  noble.  "  I  do  promise  you 
all,"  said  the  intrepid  patriot,  "  if  God  forsake  me  not,  that  I  will 
never  during  life  hold  my  tongue  if  any  message  is  sent  wherein  God 
is  dishonored,  the  prince  perilled,  or  the  liberties  of  the  parliament 
impeached."  Wentworth.  was  committed  to  prison  ;  a  fate  which 
did  not  surprise  him.  In  his  examination  before  a  committee,  he 
observed :  "  I  do  assure  your  honors,  that  twenty  times  and  more, 
when  I  walked  in  my  grounds,  revolving  this  speech,  to  prepare 
against  this  day,  my  own  fearful  conceit  did  say  unto  me  that  this 
speech  would  carry  me  to  the  place  whither  I  shall  now  go,  and  fear 
would  have  moved  me  to  put  it  out.  Then  I  weighed  whether  in 
good  conscience,  and  the  duty  of  a  faithful  subject,  I  might  keep 
myself  out  of  prison,  and  not  to  warn  my  prince  from  walking  in 
a  dangerous  course.  My  conscience  said  unto  me,  that  I  could  not 
be  a  faithful  subject  if  I  did  more  respect  to  avoid  my  own  danger 
than  my  prince's  danger :  herewithal  I  was  made  bold,  and  went  for 
ward,  as  your  honors  heard ;  yet  when  I  uttered  these  words  in  the 
house,  that  there  was  none  without  fault — no !  not  our  noble  queen  : 
I  paused,  and  beheld  all  your  countenances,  and  saw  plainly  that 
those  words  did  amaze  you  all.  Then  fear  bade  me  put  out  the 
words  that  followed,  for  your  countenances  did  assure  me  that  not 
one  of  you  would  stay  me  of  my  journey.  But  I  spake  it,  and  I 
praise  God  for  it." 

Wentworth  was  committed  to  the  Tower,  but  Elizabeth  was  far 
too  politic  to  allow  such  a  man  to  become  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of 


THE   HEROES  OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF  LIBERTY.         113 

popular  freedom.  After  a  month's  incarceration  she  remitted  the 
sentence.  The  toadies  of  the  house  held  forth  hugely  on  the  divine 
leniency  of  the  queen,  with  which  Wentworth  may  or  may  not  have 
been  impressed.  Certain  it  is,  that  eleven  years  afterwards  he  was 
so  dissatisfied  with  further  encroachments  on  the  privileges  of  the 
house,  that  he  prepared  in  writing  a  series  of  tough  queries,  which 
he  handed  to  the  speaker.  One  of  these  was  couched  in  the  follow 
ing  words :  u  Whether  there  be  any  council  which  can  make,  add 
to,  or  diminish  from  the  laws  of  this  realm,  but  only  this  council  of 
parliament."  It  was  reserved  for  another  century,  in  which  other 
men  of  "Wentworth's  calibre  were  the  actors,  to  answer  this  vital 
question.  Much  trial  and  tribulation  were  undergone  before  the 
people's  indignant  negative  was  recorded  in  the  bloody  scrolls  of 
history.  To  that  period  we  will  now  hasten. 

The  most  momentous  political  occurrence  of  the  sixteenth  century 
was  that  which  provoked  the  document  called  the  Petition  of  Rights. 
This  was  the  commencement  of  that  memorable  epoch,  since  denom 
inated  the  English  Revolution,  and  which,  resulting  in  the  execution 
of  Charles  the  First,  and  the  Protectorate  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  effected 
in  a  remarkable  degree  the  early  characteristics  of  this  country.  It 
was  in  this  epoch  that  the  word  Puritan  was  first  used.  It  stood  for 
the  appellation  of  three  parties,  all  of  them  opposed  to  the  intoler 
ance  of  King  Charles's  reign.  There  were  the  political  Puritans, 
who  maintained  the  highest  principles  of  civil  liberty ;  the  Puritans 
in  discipline,  who  were  averse  to  the  ceremonies  and  Episcopal  gov 
ernment  of  ^the  Church ;  and  the  doctrinal  Puritans  who  rigidly  de 
fended  the  speculative  system  of  the  first  reformers.* 

During  two  preceding  reigns,  the  English  people,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  been  gradually  imbibing  sentiments  of  enlarged '  political  and 
religious  freedom.  Elizabeth,  with  a  tact  for  which  she  was  remark 
able,  conceded  what  was  necessary.  But  imbecile  James  lacked 
the  talent  and  the  inclination  to  appreciate  the  wants  of  his  people. 
In  the  midst  of  difficulties,  dissensions,  and  civil  commotions,  and  at,  a 

*  Humo. 


A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

time  when  practical  common  sense  was  especially  demanded,  lie 
wrote  and  published  an  elaborate  work  on  the  divine  right  of  kings. 
The  object  of  this  ridiculous  production  was,  to  prove  that  kings 
could  do  no  wrong ;  that  their  prerogative  was  from  Heaven ;  and 
that  any  encroachment  on  it  was  flagrant  heresy  !  James's  par 
liament  soon  became  refractory.  Public  disapprobation  increased 
with  fearful  rapidity.  The  king  endeavored  to  get  on  without  a 
parliament,  and  succeeded  for  a  while  in  raising  funds  for  the  State 
exchequer.  But  there  was  great  indignation,  and  the  grievances  of^ 
the  nation  were  all  converging  to  a  crisis.  King  James  died  on  the 
27th  March,  1025.  Under  his  weak  rule,  the  spirit  of  liberty  had 
grown  strong,  and  had  become  equal  to  a  great  contest.'" 

Charles  I.  succeeded  to  the  throne.  lie  was  unlike  his  father 
in  many  respects ;  but  he  was  false,  imperious,  obstinate,  narrow- 
minded,  ignorant  of  the  temper  of  his  people,  unobservant  of  the 
signs  of  the  times,1}1  and  firm  in  the  determination  to  protect  what  he 
conceived  to  be  the  prerogatives  of  the  Crown.  The  spirit  of  reform 
had  grown  strong  and  muscular,  but  he  thought  he  could  strangle  it 
with  his  weak  hands.  Failing  in  this,  he  tried,  as  the  next  best  thing, 
to  chastise  it.  Parliaments  were  assembled  at  the  king's  pleasure, 
and  dissolved  the  moment  they  were  found  to  be  intractable.  In 
consequence  of  the  extreme  difficulty  with  which  the  king  raised 
supplies,  he  determined  to  resort  to  the  illegal  process  of  imposing  n, 
forced  loan  on  the  kingdom,  thus  subverting  the  entire  object  and 
usefulness  of  the  House  of  Commons.,  Great  numbers  resisted  this 
unjustifiable  imposition,  for  which  they  were  immediately  thrown  into 
prison.  Foiled  in  his  purpose,  the  king  had  once  more  to  assemble 
parliament,  nud  as  a  necessary  consequence,  one  of  the  first  discus 
sions  was  on  the  late  illegal  proceedings  of  the  Crown.  The  result 
of  their  discussions  was,  the  document  called  the  Petition  of  Right, 
so  called  because,  although  drawn  up  in  the  usual  strain  of  a  humble 
petition,  it  had  all  the  force  of  a  lawr  on  the  king's  endorsement  of 
his  concurrence.  This  document,  which  is  justly  considered  the 
*  Macanlay.  t  Ibid. 


THE   HEROES   OF   TPIE   FOUNDERS  OF   LIBERTY.       115 

second  Great  Charter  of  English  liberty,  was  drawn  up  by  Sir  Ed 
ward  Coke  in  the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age.  It  was  the  last  act 
of  a  brilliant  judicial  career,  and  is  a  lasting  monument  to  Coke's 
patriotism  and  genius.  It  provided  that  no  tax  or  loan  might  be 
levied  except  with  the  concurrence  of  parliament;  that  no  man 
might  be  imprisoned  but  by  legal  process ;  that  soldiers  might  not 
be  quartered  on  people  contrary  to  their  will ;  and  that  no  commis 
sions  be  granted  for  executing  martial  law.*  A  few  days  after  the 
receipt  of  the  petition,  the  king  returned  an  evasive  answer.  A  dis 
cussion  immediately  ensued  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Among  the 
eminent  men  who  took  part  in  it  were  Sir  John  Eliot,  John  Hamp- 
den,  and  John  Pym  ;  heroic  names  that  adorn  the  brightest  pages  of 
political  history. 

Sir  John  Eliot  spoke  with  dignity  and  fervor.  u  His  mind,"  says 
Lord  Nugent,  "  was  deeply  imbued  with  a  love  of  philosophy  and  a 
confidence  in  religion,  which  gave  a  lofty  tone  to  his  eloquence." 
The  effect  of  the  debate  was  so  seriously  damaging  to  the  king,  ancr 
particularly  to  his  pampered  minister,  Buckingham,  that  he  could  no 
longer  withhold  his  consent  to  the  Petition  of  Right.  He  gave  it 
with  surly  remorse,  but  with  a  mental  reservation  that  he  would  be 
avenged  on  the  men  who  had  extorted  it  from  him.  He  again  dis 
solved  parliament,  and  determined  to  rule  in  his  own  right,  without 
their  aid  or  assistance.  Two  days  later,  he  committed  Sir  John  Eliot 
and  other  members  to  the  Tower,  on  a  charge  of  high  treason. 
Servile  courts  sustained  him  in  this  flagrant  breach  of  privilege  and 
violation  of  the  Petition  of  Right.  But  he  was  inexorable,  and  Eliot 
remained  in  prison — doomed  to  die  a  martyr  in  the  cause  of  political 
liberty.  After  two  years  of  wearisome  confinement,  his  health  began 
to  fail.  He  petitioned  for  the  privilege  of  a  temporary  release,  that 
he  might  recuperate  his  sinking  energies.  But  the  king  demanded 
concessions  from  him  which,  as  an  honest,  high-purposed  man,  he 
could  not  make.  Another  year,  passed  in  suffering  and  cruelty,  ter 
minated  his  life.  He  died  in  November,  1C32.  The  vengeance  of 

*  Goodrich. 


116  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA, 

the  king  continued  even  after  his  death.  One  of  Sir  John  Eliot's 
sons  petitioned  for  the  privilege  of  interring  the  body  in  a  distant 
county.  The.  king  replied,  "  Let  him  be  buried  in  the  parish  where 
he  died."  Truly,  Charles  was  one  of  those  monarchs  destined  by 
Divine  Providence  to  hasten  revolutions. 

All  the  promises  of  the  king  were  violated  ;  the  Petition  of  Right 
forgotten  ;  persecutions  and  exactions  of  the  worst  kind  inflicted, 
particularly  with  regard  to  the  Puritans.  The  king,  who  was  a  zealot 
for  Church  discipline,  looked  upon  the  Puritans  with  all  the  concen 
trated  bitterness  and  hatred  of  his  treacherous  nature.  They  were 
forced  to  fly  from  the  country.  They  were  whipped,  imprisoned, 
scourged,  and  mutilated.  "  But  the  cruelty  of  the  oppressor  could 
not  tire  out  the  fortitude  of  the  victims.  The  mutilated  defenders  of 
liberty  again  defied  the  vengeance  of  the  Star  Chamber, — came  back 
with  undiminished  resolution  to  the  place  of  their  glorious  infamy, 
and  manfully  presented  the  stumps  of  their  ears  to  be  grubbed  out, 
by  the  hangman's  knife."* 

John  Hampden  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and, 
like  others  before  referred  to,  opposed  the  assessment  of  the  forced 
loan.  That  he  did  so  from  the  highest  patriotic  motives,  is  beyond 
question.  The  sum  at  which  lie  was  assessed  was  a  mere  trifle,  and 
he  was  a  man  of  wealth.  For  this  contumacy  he  was  imprisoned. 
After  the  passing  of  the  Petition  of  Right,  he  was  released ;  and  we 
do  not  find  him  taking  an  active  part  in  public  affairs,  until  the  gov 
ernment — that  is,  the  king — again  attempted  an  unwarrantable  exac 
tion.  A  Avrit  was  issued,  commanding  the  city  of  London  to  man 
and  equip  ships  of  war  for  his  service.  Similar  writs  were  issued. 
not  only  for  the  seaboard  counties,  but  the  inland  ones.  This  exces 
sive  abuse  of  authority  created  the  greatest  excitement.  No  prece 
dent  could  be  found,  in  the  legislation  of  any  other  kino-,  for  such  an 
oppressive  system  of  taxation. 

Buckinghamshire — of  which  county  Hampden  was  a  native — was 
assessed  for  a  ship  of  the  value  of  four  thousand  five  hundred  pounds., 

*  Macaulav. 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE    FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        117 

'The  individual  portions  of  this  assessment  were  necessarily  small,  but 
every  shilling  subscribed  towards  the  aggregate  was  the  recognition 
of  a  pernicious  principle.  Hampden  at  once  refused  to  pay  his  por 
tion,  and  determined  at  all  hazards  to  bring  the  matter  to  a  crisis. 
Before  this  time,  "  he  was  rather  of  reputation  in  his  own  county, 
than  of  public  discourse  or  fame  in  the  kingdom ;  but  then  he  grew 
the  argument  of  all  tongues,  every  man  inquiring  who  and  what  he 
was  that  durst,  at  his  own  charge,  support  the  liberty  and  prosperity 
of  the  kingdom."* 

Hampden,  as  the  representative  of  the  people,  tried  the  question 
of  the  illegal  assessment,  in  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  before  all  the 
judges  of  England.  The  fear  of  court  displeasure  possessed  the 
bench ;  only  four  of  the  judges  had  sufficient  courage  to  declare  in 
Hampden's  favor,  although  the  law  was  clearly  on  his  side.  The 
remaining  eight  were  in  favor  of  tho  writ.  Thus,  so  far  as  the  law 
was  concerned,  justice  was  denied  to  Hampden,  and,  through  his  per 
son,  to  the  people.  The  result  of  this  decision  was,  to  place  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Crown  the  whole  property  of  the  English  nation.f  A 
defeated  man  receives  but  little  consideration  from  a  despot.  Hamp 
den  was  not  long  in  discovering  that  his  person  was  scarcely  safe  from 
the  fury  of  the  king.  Opposed  to  violence,  and  desiring,  of  all  things, 
to  save  his  country  from  the  miseries  of  civil  war,  he  determined  to 
flee  to  a  distant  land,  where,  at  least,  he  would  be  beyond  the  reach 
of  oppressors.  Beyond  the  Atlantic  ocean,  a  few  persecuted  Puritans 
had  founded  a  settlement,  in  Connecticut.  Thither  he  determined 
to  flee.  He  secured  passage  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  completed  his 
arrangements  for  permanently  vacating  the  land  of  his  birth.  Among 
others  who  arrived  at  a  similar  determination,  were  Oliver  Cromwell 
and  John  Pym.  This  illustrious  trio,  so  soon  destined  to  convulse 
society,  were  on  the  point  of  sailing,  when  an  order  from  the  king 
intercepted  the  vessel.  It  seems  that,  although  the  king  did  not  care 
to  crush  Hampden  whilst  public  feeling  was  in  its  present  state,  he 
was  yet  unwilling  to  let  him  escape.  He  had  sufficient  penetration 

*  Clarendon.  t  Macaulay, 

6* 


118  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

to  know  that  the  fearless  nature  of  the  man  would  soon  display  itself, 
and  he  was  content  to  wait. 

In  the  next  parliament,  Hampden  took  his  seat  for  his  native  shire, 
and  thenceforth  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the  aftairs  of  the  nation. 
He  was  now  unquestionably  the  most  popular  man  in  England.  The 
king  affected  respect  for  him,  but  hated  him  bitterly.  A  message 
was  sent  to  the  House  for  fresh  supplies.  It  was  couched  in  the 
usual  language  of  promise.  Redress  for  grievances  was  the  boon. 
The  Commons  had  experienced  the  king's  treachery,  and  were  de 
termined,  in  this  case,  to  get  what  redress  they  needed  first.  On  the 
next  day,  with  an  angry  speech  the  king  dissolved  parliament.  Such 
an  act  indicated,  with  very  impolitic  clearness,  that  the  king  expected 
the  Commons  to  do  precisely  as  lie  wished,  or  he  would  not  allow 
them  to  sit  at  all. 

The  necessities  of  the  king,  after  a  most  inglorious  campaign  in 
Scotland,  compelled  him  to  assemble  parliament  once  more.  On  the 
3d  of  November,  1G40,  the  Commons  met.  It  is  a  memorable  day 
in  history,  being  the  first  of  what  is  now  universally  known  as  the 
Long  Parliament  —  a  parliament  which,  as  Macaulay  forcibly  ex 
presses  it,  was  destined  to  every  extreme  of  fortune :  to  empire  and 
to  servitude, — to  glory  and  to  contempt ;  at  one  time  the  sovereign 
of  its  sovereign, — at  another  time,  the  servant  of  its  servants,  and  the 
tool  of  its  tools.  The  first  session  of  this  memorable  parliament  was 
spent  in  actively  redressing  public  grievances.  All  those  who  had 
assisted  in  subverting  the  laws,  including  the  judges  who  had  offici 
ated  on  Hampden's  trial,  were  tried.  The  prime  minister,  Strafford, 
was  executed ;  and  other  prominent  characters,  to  escape  a  similar 
fate,  fled  the  country  in  alarm. 

The  conduct  of  Hampden  during  this  crisis  was  moderate,  manly, 
and  peaceful.  He  was  opposed  to  extreme  measures,  apprehending 
a  reaction.  He  seemed  disposed  to  soothe  rather  than  excite  the 
public  mind.*  The  king,  humiliated  and  crest-fallen,  had  taken  re 
fuge  from  obloquy  in  Scotland.  II?. 'tipclen  was  dispatched  by  the 

""  01  arc  no  <n. 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.       119 

parliament  to  visit  him  there.  During  his  absence,  measures  of  an 
extreme  character  were  enacted,  and  what  Hampden  had  wisely 
dreaded  came  to  pass.  A  reactionary  party  sprung  up,  formed  of 
men  who  thought  that  enough  had  been  done,  and  that  possibly  too 
much  might  be  attempted.  Encouraged  by  these  new  manifesta 
tions,  Charles  returned.  All  that  was  now  necessary  for  the  perma 
nence  of  his  crown  was,  that  he  should  abstain  from  treachery,  from 
violence,  from  gross  breaches  of  the  law,* 

This  was  expecting  too  much  from  a  man  so  abject,  cowardly,  and 
treacherous.  With  his  usual  volubility  he  promised  every  thing, 
and  with  his  customary  duplicity,  violated  all  his  promises.  Without 
the  slightest  intimation  of  displeasure,  he  impeached  several  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  house.  Hampden  and  Pym  were  of  course 
among  the  number.  Such  an  instance  of  perfidious  tyranny  was 
unparalleled.  The  House  of  Commons  refused  to  surrender  their 
members,  maintaining  that  the  impeachment  coming  from  the  House 
of  Peers  was  unconstitutional.  Xot  to  be  defeated  in  his  purpose, 
the  king,  accompanied  by  two  hundred  soldiers  of  his  guard,  made  a 
descent  on  the  house  with  the  intention  of  seizing  the  contumacious 
members  by  force.  They  had  been  previously  warned  of  their  dan 
ger,  and  had  fled  to  a  populous  district  of  London,  where  they  were 
sure  of  the  sympathies  of  the  citizens.  A  proclamation  was  issued 
by  the  king,  directing  that  no  person  should  harbor  the  fugitives, 
but  it  came  too  late.  The  spark  had  been  ignited,  and  the  explosion 
followed  with  fearful  rapidity. 

The  tramp  of  armed  citizens  was  heard  in  every  corner  of  the 
great  city.  All  the  societies  turned  out  in  battle  array.  A  careful 
watch  was  kept  on  every  approach  leading  to  the  neighborhood  in 
which  Hampden  and  Pym  lay.  Every  one,  from  the  youngest  ap 
prentice  to  the  oldest  merchant,  was  on  the  alert  to  avenge  the  insult 
offered  to  their  liberty.  After  a  short  delay  the  members  were  in 
vited,  in  defiance  of  the  king's  proclamation,  to  attend  their  seats  ii« 
the  House  of  Commons.  The  immense  population  of  London  turned 

*  Macaulay. 


120  A   VOICE    TO   AMERICA. 

out  en  masse  to  escort  them  in  triumph  past  the  windows  of  the 
palace.  "On  the  llth  January,"  says  Macaulay,  "  the  Thames  was 
covered  with  boats,  and  its  shores  with  a  gazing  multitude.  Armed 
vessels,  decorated  with  streamers,  were  ranged  in  two  lines  from  Lon 
don  Bridge  to  Westminster  Hall.  The  members  returned  by  water 
in  a  ship,  manned  by  sailors  who  had  volunteered  their  services, 
The  '.rain,  bands  of  the  city,  under  the  command  of  the  sheriffs, 
inarched  along  the  Strand,  attended  by  a  vast  crowd  of  spectators,  to 
guard  the  avenues  to  the  House  of  Commons,  and  thus  with  shouts, 
and  loud  discharges  of  ordnance,  the  accused  patriots  were  brought 
back  by  the  people  whom  thev  had  served,  and  for  whom  they  had 
suffered."  On  the  day  preceding  this  great  demonstration,  the  king 
fled.  The  excitement  was  not  confined  to  London  only.  Through 
out  the  provinces  the  people  were  agitated  in  a  like  manner.  Buck 
inghamshire  dispatched  a  deputation  of  four  thousand  freeholders 
to  defend  the  person  of  their  beloved  representative,  and  other  coun 
ties  did  the  same.  The  crisis  had  indeed  come. 

It  was  evident  iluit  the  king  could  no  longer  be  trusted.  The 
only  way  to  prevent  his  doing  injury  to  the  liberal  cause,  was  to  de 
prive  him  of  the  power.  A  fearful  struggle  was  inevitable.  The 
king  was  already  in  the  field  with  a  numerous  retinue* 

ITampden  was  a  man  who  loved  peace,  so  long  as  peace  could  be 
honorably  maintained;  but  ho  was  not  a  man  to  be  daunted  by  the 
flashing  of  hostile  swords.  lie  had  been  the  consistent  advocate  of 
moderation.  Whilst  the  laws  could  be  appealed  to  for  redress,  he 
was  content  to  depend  on  their  efficacy.  Finding  them  utterly  use 
less,  he  prepared  to  leave  his  country.  Foiled  in  this  endeavor,  lie 
boldly  faced  the  evils  of  the  day.  Almost  exacting  a  representative 
privilege,  he  took  on  himself  the  grievances  of  his  countrymen,  and 
battled  for  them  with  unflinching  valor.  Thus  when  recent  events 
had  made  civil  war  imperative,  we  find  Ilampden  stepping  into  the 
foremost  place  with  unconscious  activity  and  bravery.  He  placed  a 
large  portion  of  his  fortune  at  the  service  of  parliament;  raised, 
armed,  and,  at  his  own  expense,  equipped  a  regiment  of  Buckingham- 


THE   HEROES  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  OF  LIBERTY.          121 

shire  cavalry,  and  took  his  place  at  their  head  as  colonel.  Military 
discipline — usually  so  obnoxious  to  civilians — fell  on  him  like  a  gar 
ment.  He  was  ever  on  the  alert,  and  never  missed  an  opportunity 
that  might  be  improved  by  intrepidity  and  activity.  It  is  not  easy 
to  do  full  justice  to  the  admirable  rapidity  of  Hampden's  movements. 
He  was  constantly  in  the  saddle,  and  reiilly  seemed  ubiquitous.  A 
lampoon  aimed  at  him  by  a  political  opponent  is  immensely  funny  at 
his  incessant  journeys  between  Windsor  and  the  House  of  Commons. 
He  was  constantly  hurrying  from  the  field  to  the  house. 

It  would  be  an  endless  task  to  recapitulate  these  events  of  the 
civil  war  in  which-Hampden  took  a  conspicuous  part.  It  must  suffice 
that  wherever  there  was  an  opportunity  for  displaying  an  unselfish 
patriotism,  there  he  was  found.  Unhappily  his  career  of  usefulness 
was  not  destined  to  be  of  long  duration.  On  the  18th  of  June,  1643, 
Hampden  gathered  his  men  at  Chalgrove  for  the  purpose  of  cutting 
off  the  retreat  of  a  band  of  cavaliers  who  had  been  on  a  foraging 
excursion.  A  fierce  conflict  ensued.  In  the  charge,  Hampden  re 
ceived  his  death-wound — inflicted  by  two  bullets  in  the  shoulder. 
With  head  drooping  and  hands  leaning  on  his  horse's  neck,  he  rode 
faintly  from  the  field  of  battle.  After  several  days  of  intense  physical 
suffering,  the  shadows  of  death  thickened  round  his  pillow.  With 
invincible  fortitude  he  dispatched  what  public  business  most  demanded 
his  attention.  When  his  last  national  duties  were  discharged,  he 
calmly  prepared  himself  to  die.  He  asked  for  the  consolation  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament,  and  it  was  administered  to  him.  When  the  hand 
of  death  lay  coldly  on  him,  he  murmured  short  prayers  for  the  cause 
in  which  he  perished.  "  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  soul — 0  Lord,  save 
my  country — O  Lord,  be  merciful  to" — .  In  that  broken  sentence 
passed  away  a  man  whose  every  act  was  one  of  unselfish  patriotism 
and  unconscious  virtue ;  a  man  whose  life  is  of  such  refulgent  bright 
ness,  that  time  will  in  vain  seek  to  dim  its  lustre. 

John  Pym,  who  was  intimately  associated  with  Hampden  in  all 
the  important  events  of  this  epoch,  was  born  of  good  parents  in 
Somersetshire,  in  the  year  1584,  He  received  his  education  at  Ox- 


122  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

ford,  and  at  an  early  age  received  an  appointment  in  the  office  of  the 
Exchequer.  He  was  distinguished  for  his  eloquence,  and  knowledge 
of  the  common  law.  He  served  in  several  parliaments  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  reign  of  James  L,  as  member  for  Tavistock,  and  in 
all  those  held  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  He  distinguished  himself 
by  his  zeal  in  defending  the  rights  of  the  people  against  the  aggres 
sions  of  royalty.  In  1C2G  he  was  one  of  the  principal  managers  of 
the  impeachment  against  Buckingham.  After  the  opening  of  the 
Long  Parliament,  Pym  took  an  active  part  in  the  vigorous  legislation 
of  that 'tribunal..  He  classed  the  grievances  of  the  nation  under  three 
heads  :  Privilege  of  Parliament,  Religion,  Liberty  of  the  Subject. 
The  termination  of  this  consideration  resulted  in  the  impeachment 
and  execution  of  Strafford.  The  latter  was  at  one  time  attached  to 
the  popular  side,  but  became  an  apostate  to  the  court.  When  he 
had  determined  on  acting  thus  treacherously,  he  sent  for  Pym,  and 
endeavored  by  specious  arguments  to  win  him  to  a  similar  line  of 
conduct.  Pym  listened  to  him  impatiently  for  a  while,  then  turning 
on  him  furiously  said,  "  You  need  not  use  all  this  art  to  tell  me  that 
you  are  going  to  be  undone  :  but  remember,  that  though  you  leave 
us  now,  I  will  never  leave  you  while  your  head  is  upon  your  shoul 
ders."  He  kept  his  word  too. 

To  appreciate  the  services  of  Pym,  it  is  necessary  to  realize  the 
peculiar  characteristics  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Government 
was  subverted  by  the  treachery  of 'the  king,  and  the  unscrupulous 
co-operation  of  his  minions.  In  the  effort  to  restore  the  privileges 
of  parliament,  and  thereby  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  great  personal 
courage  and  invincible  integrity  were  demanded.  By  intimidation 
or  by  corruption,  all  the  reformers  were  silenced,  that  were  capable 
of  ignominious  silence.  Only  those  who  entertained  genuine  senti 
ments  of  patriotism, — men  who  recognized  danger  as  an  element  ef 
their  success, — were  able  to  withstand  the  alternate  bullvino-  ;>nd 

»i         O 

flattery  of  the  court.  A  conspicuous  member  of  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  like  Pym,  excited  peculiar  hatred.  His  life  was  in  constant 
danger.  Any  one  of  the  many  high-handed  outrages  of  the  king 


THE   HEROES   OF   THE   FOUNDERS  OF   LIBERTY.        123 

might  have  placed  Pym's  head  upon  the  block.  But  he  did  not 
swerve  from  the  path  of  duty.  Threats  and  bribes  were  alike  unavail 
ing.  With  fearless  energy  and  burning  eloquence,  he  denounced  the 
oppressors — never  once  looked  back,  but  with  eyes  sternly  fixed  on 
the  future,  righted  what  was  wrong.  The  impeachments  of  the  Long 
Parliament  were  conducted  mainly  by  Pym ;  and  in  consequence, 
more  than  an  ordinary  share  of  danger  attended  his  proceedings. 
For  these  and  other  reasons,  he  is  justly  estimated  one  of  England's 
worthies,  and  one  who  in  no  slight  degree  contributed  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  political  liberty. 

The  hostilities  between  the  soldiers  of  the  people  and  the  soldiers 
of  the  king,  now  assumed  the  grave  form  of  a  civil  war.  Charles, 
as  we  have  already  stated,  sought  refuge  in  the  camp  of  the  Scots — 
a  people  thoroughly  enamored  of  monarchical  institutions,  but  influ 
enced,  at  this  crisis,  by  considerations  of  a  religious  character.  Had 
Charles  possessed  the  tact  to  conciliate  their  Presbyterian  spirit,  or 
even  to  abandon  some  of  his  own  Episcopalian  dogmas,  he  could 
undoubtedly  have  depended  on  the  valor  and  loyalty  of  his  Scotch 
adherents.  As  it  was,  they  basely  sold  him  to  the  parliament. 

At  this  stage  of  civil  discord,  there  appeared  a  man  who  must  ever 
absorb  attention.  Suddenly  emerging  from  pursuits  of  a  quiet  agri 
cultural  character,  Oliver  Cromwell  darts  through  the  pages  of  history 
like  a  fierce  meteor.  It  is  only  of  late  years  that  his  real  character 
has  begun  to  be  understood.  The  patient  industry  and  impartiality 
of  Carlyle  have  been  effectual  to  rescue  the  memory  of  this  great 
hero  from  the  obloquy  with  wrhich  it  had  so  long  been  covered. 

Oliver  Cromwell  was  born  at  Huntingdon,  England,  in  1599.  He 
was  descended  of  a  well-born  family.  "  I  was  by  birth,"  said  Crom 
well,  in  one  of  his  speeches  to  parliament,  "  neither  living  in  any 
considerable  height,  nor  yet  in  obscurity."  Oliver's  education  was 
commenced  at  the  grammar-school  of  his  native  town,  and  completed 
at  Sydney  Sussex  College,  Cambridge.  He  appears  to  have  been 
wild  and  roystering  during  the  youthful  portion  of  his  life.  In  1620 
he  returned  home,  was  married,  and  took,  up  his  position  as  the  re- 


A   VOICE   TO   AMEKICA. 

spectable  head  of  a  household.  About  this  time  he  became  oppressed 
by  convictions  of  conscience  almost  amounting  to  insanity.  He  sat 
about  retrieving  some  of  his  former  errors  ;  made  himself  bankrupt 
by  paving  back  sums  of  money  he  had  formerly  won  at  play ;  and 
declared  that  he  was  ready  to  make  restitution  to  any  whom  he  had 
wronged.  The  persecuted  Puritans  found  a  welcome  refuge  beneath 
his  roof.  In  the  third  parliament  of  Charles  I.,  he  sat  as  the  repre 
sentative  of  his  native  town ;  and  although  not  a  prominent  actor 
in  the  events  of  that  period,  was  a  keen  and  anxious  observer  of  what 
transpired. 

After  the  parliament  had  been  dissolved,  Cromwell  returned  to 
St.  Ives  (a  town  in  the  vicinity  of  Huntingdon),  and  for  five  years 
was  a  grazing  farmer.  His  demeanor  was  characterized  by  religious 
severity.  There  is  now  no  reasonable  doubt  for  supposing  that  it  was 
insincere.  "  He  had  certainly  materials  enough  for  reflection.  Not 
to  speak  of  the  inward  conflicts  of  his  own  mind — conflicts  arising 
from  the  views  of  truth  he  had  been  recently  led  to  take — deep, 
earnest,  heaven-born  impulses — society  round  him  was  raging  like  a 
volcano.  *  '""  *  *  The  writs  of  ship-money  had  been  issued,  and 
Hampden  had  stood  resolute  in  its  refusal.  The  thunder-storm  was 
rising."* 

The  moment  for  action  arrived,  and  Cromwell,  feeling  himself  in 
spired  for  great  actions,  did  not  longer  hesitate.  When  the  attempt 
to  seize  the  five  members  was  made  by  Charles,  he  rushed  at  once 
to  the  rescue.  His  influence,  his  purse,  his  sword,  were  at  the  nation's 
call.  He  was  appointed  captain,  and,  soon  after,  colonel  of  the 
sixty-seventh  troop  of  the  parliamentary  forces.  But  he  was  dissat 
isfied  with  the  troops.  "  They  were,"  he  complained,  "  old  decayed 
serving-men,  and  tapsters,  and  such  kind  of  fellows."  To  organize  a 
different  corps  was  with  him  a  simultaneous  thought  and  action.  The 
members  of  this  corps  were  men  who,  stimulated  by  similar  religious 
zeal  as  Cromwell,  were  prepared  to  understand  and  appreciate  his 
acts.  "  I  had  rather  have  a  plain  russet-coated  captain,"  he  said, 

*  Trial  1. 


THE   HEROES   OF   THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        125 

"  that  knows  what  he  fights  for,  and  loves  what  lie  knows,  than  that 
which  you  call  a  gentleman,  and  is  nothing  else."  The  terrible 
"  Ironsides "  was  the  corps  thus  raised. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  follow  Cromwell  in  his  military  expeditions 
against  the  royalists  and  other  enemies  of  his  country.  Wherever 
he  appeared,  victory  crowned  the  day.  His  activity  and  decision 
were  marvellous,  and  in  every  kind  of  military  tactic,  it  is  doubtful 
if  England  has  ever  had  his  superior.  Charles  was  decapitated,  and 
Cromwell  appointed  Protector.  Under  his  administration,  popular 
freedom  received  much  invigorating  support.  Indeed,  it  must  be  a 
matter  of  surprise  with  all  dispassionate  thinkers,  how  he  could  have 
accomplished  so  much,  surrounded  as  he  was  by  jealousies,  hatreds, 
and  intimidations.  He  appointed  for  judges  the  most  upright  and 
distinguished  men, — among  others  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  He  never  in 
terfered  with  the  courts  of  justice.  In  religion,  he  was  as  tolerant 
as  any  man  living  in  that  age,  and  belonging  to  the  Puritan  party, 
could  be.  He  promoted  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  helped,  by  deci 
sive  legislation,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  great  nation.  Usurpers 
must  be  tyrants,  but  whilst  they  tyrannize,  they  try  to  conciliate.  If 
Cromwell  were  "  a  scourge  of  God,"  Charles  had  prepared  the  nation 
for  its  infliction ;  and  if  Charles  was  a  mild  tyrant,  Cromwell  was 
moderate  as  a  despot.*  Charles  was  beheaded  to  insure  justice  to 
the  people,  and  Cromwell  would  have  met  with  a  similar  fate,  but 
for  his  superior  justice,  vigor,  and  forethought.  The  hypocrisy  of 
Cromwell  has  been  a  standing  theme  with  historians.  But  there  is 
no  reasonable  ground  for  supposing  that  he  acted  otherwise  than 
from  conscientious  conviction.  The  publication  of  his  most  private 
letters  indicate  clearly,  that  what  he  professed  in  public,  he  believed 
in  private.  A  charge  of  hypocrisy  is  a  common  way  of  assailing 
the  reputation  of  a  Puritan,  particularly  by  men  who  believe  in  the  pos 
sibility  of  wearing  religion  like  a  garment,  for  decency's  sake.  He 
must  be  strangely  constituted  who,  while  reading  Cromwell's  letters, 
and  there  viewing  his  private  life,  can  discern  nothing  in  him  but 

*  History  of  Democracy. 


126  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

tinmingled  dissimulation.*  The  present  age  is  doing  him  justice,  spite 
of  kings,  queens,  and  houses  of  lords.  His  memory  is  cherished,  and 
he  may  yet  be  invoked  when  the  country  which  gave  him  birth  is 
convulsed  in  the  throes  of  civil  war  and  revolution. 

One  of  the  sincerest  republicans  of  Cromwell's  epoch,  was  that 
illustrious  man  who  afterwards  wrote  the  sublime  poem  of  "  Paradise 
Lost."  John  Milton  was  Latin  secretary  to  the  new  council  of  state, 
and  in  every  official  act  proved  that  he  was  the  consistent  advocate 
of  political  liberty.  To  an  extent  he  was  a  hero  in  the  cause.  That 
sad  calamity  with  which  he  was  afflicted  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life, 
is  said  to  have  been  produced  by  the  severe  devotion  with  which  he 
applied  himself  to  the  composition  of  a  work  entitled  "  Defensio  pro 
Populo  Anglicano."  Salmasius  had  written  a  defence  of  monarchy, 
and  particularly  of  Charles  L,  under  the  title  of  "  Defensio  Regis." 
Milton's  work  was  a  reply  to  this,  and  exhibited  so  much  learning 
and  fervid  eloquence,  that  his  opponent  was  completely  overwhelmed. 
Close  application,  midnight  toil,  and  intense  study  were  necessary  for 
the  composition  of  this  able  defence  of  popular  rights  against  monar 
chical  pretension.  Milton  was  frequently  told  by  his  physicians  that 
it  would  result  in  blindness,  but  he  was  far  too  earnest  to  heed  their 
warning  advice.  Total  loss  of  sight  was  the  result.  He  was  not 
cast  down  even  with  this  calamity.  The  moment  he  had  recovered 
from  the  first  shock  of  its  intensity,  he  set  about  writing  another  de 
fence  of  the  people  of  England. 

On  the  death  of  Cromwell,  Milton  employed  his  pen  with  great 
vigor  to  check  the  prevalent  feeling  in  favor  of  the  Restoration.  Un 
able  to  do  so,  lie  sought  refuge  in  the  house  of  a  friend.  In  the  act 
of  indemnity  which  followed,  his  name  found  no  exception.  With 
many  others  he  was  given  into  the  custody  of  the  sergeant-at-aims. 
After  a  while  he  was  released.  In  impoverished  circumstances,  he 
sought  the  tranquil  pleasures  of  poetic  studies.  To  his  withdrawal 
from  the  political  arena  we  are  indebted  for  that  lasting  monument  of 
sublime  genius,  the  "  Paradise  Lost." 

*  Triall.    • 


THE   HEEOES   OF   THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        127 

Before  quitting  this  prolific  period  of  effort  and  achievement,  it  may 
be  profitable  to  refer  to  an  invaluable  document  obtained  after  much 
trouble  from  the  government  of  Charles  II.  We  refer  to  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act :  arbitrary  imprisonment  became  impossible  after  its  pas 
sage.  By  this  act  it  was  prohibited  to  send  any  one  to  prison  beyond 
sea.  No  judge,  under  severe  penalties,  was  permitted  to  refuse  a 
prisoner  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  on  the  issuing  of  which  the  jailor 
was  required  to  produce  in  court  the  body  of  the  prisoner  (whence 
the  name),  and  to  certify  the  cause  of  his  detention  and  imprison 
ment.  If  the  jail  lie  within  twenty  miles  of  the  judge,  the  writ  must 
be  obeyed  in  three  days,  and  so  for  greater  distances.  Every  prisoner 
must  be  indicted  the  first  term  after  his  commitment,  and  brought  to 
trial  in  the  subsequent  term.  And  no  man,  after  being  discharged,  can 
be  recommitted  for  the  old  offence.*  The  general  freedom  of  the  sub 
ject  is  thus  secured.  No  man  could  be  incarcerated  on  mere  suspicion 
or  caprice.  Cause  had  to  be  shown  why  he  was  detained,  and  he  had 
an  early  opportunity  of  appealing  to  a  jury  for  his  discharge.  The 
Magna  Charta,  the  Petition  of  Right,  and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  com 
pleted  the  English  Constitution,  and  gave  an  impetus  to  popular  liberty, 
which  has  been  gaining  in  momentum  from  that  day  to  the  present. 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  based  on  the  principles  of  these 
three  great  documents.  The  struggles  which  wrenched  them  from  the 
iron  claw  of  prerogative,  must  always  be  interesting  to  the  American, 
forming  as  they  do  the  antecedent  history  of  his  own  country. 

All  that  is  necessary  for  the  completion  of  this  chapter  is  the  addi 
tion  of  one  more  great  political  triumph ;  need  we  say — the  American 
Revolution  ?  The  student  of  history,  if  he  seek  to  trace  and  connect 
the  great  chain  of  Anglo-Saxon  triumphs,  lights  on  this  naturally  as 
the  last  and  greatest  of  them  all.  It  is  a  necessary  sequence ;  a  point 
at  which  the  mind  rests,  and  expatiates  with  confidence  and  delight 
In  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  epitomized  all  those  incontro 
vertible  truths,  which  are  at  once  the  wealth  and  the  glory  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race. 

*Hume. 


128  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

| 

In  dealing  with  the  preceding  topics,  we  have  been  compelled  on 
several  occasions  to  refer  to  the  peculiar  religious  characteristics  of 
the  times,  and  in  glancing  hastily  at  our  history,  we  are  confronted 
with  the  same  difficulty.  The  Puritans,  as  the^y  were  called,  were  men 
who  stamped  the  age  with  a  peculiar  individuality.  They  were  not 
only  men  who  thought,  but  men  who  felt  with  the  keenness  of 
thought.  The  grievous  oppressions  of  the  Star  Chamber  were  not  se 
cret  wrongs  with  such  men,  but  intolerable  public  calamities,  which  it 
were  well  to  flee  from.  Their  consciences,  as  well  as  their  bodies, 
were  endangered.  The  Puritans  everywhere  fled,  preferring  the  dan 
gers  and  vicissitudes  of  a  home  in  the  wilderness,  to  the  emasculate 
freedom  of  their  own  native  homes. 

Arrived  in  the  new  land,  they  were  under  no  apprehensions  con 
cerning  their  individual  liberty.  "With  no  kingly  foe  to  oppress  them, 
they  were  secure — at  all  events  for  the  present.  Their  danger  lay  in 
the  possibility  of  religious  dissension.  It  was  for  their  religion  they 
were  obnoxious  at  home  ;  they  had  been  persecuted  for  it,  and  if  they 
now  strove  with  more  firmness  than  liberality  to  preserve  it,  some  ex 
cuse  can  surely  be  made  for  them.  The  Puritans  on  board  the  May 
flower,  before  landing,  united  upon  a  compact  in  which  they  solemnly 
•covenanted  with  each  other  to  combine  into  a  civil  body  politic,  for 
their  better  ordering  and  protection,  and  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame 
such  just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  offices, 
from  time  to  time,  as  should  be  thought  meet  and  convenient  for  the 
general  good  of  the  colony.  These  just  and  equal  laws  would  scarce 
ly  be  considered  so  in  the  present  day,  but  they  had  the  advantage 
of  simplicity.  The  social  compact  thus  entered  into  has  generally 
been  looked  upon  as  an  extraordinary  document.  It  marked  with 
boldness  a  circle  of  freedom,  and  recognized  the  great  principles  of 
justice  and  equality. 

The  government  of  the  colonists  resembled  a  theocracy  in  its 
form.  Every  thing  was  subservient  to  the  Church.  Deficiencies  in 
the  legal  code  were  avowedly  to  be  remedied  by  "  the  Word  of  God,'' 
and  public  questions  were  more  often  determined  from  the  pulpit  than 


THE   HEROES   OF  THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        129 

the  benJa.  _No  thing  approaching  liberty  of  conscience  was  permit 
ted.  It  was  denounced  as  compaction  with  the  devil.'  In  1648, 
these  acts  of  the  Puritans  appear  to  have  been  a  little  grievous. 
Some  of  the  colonists  petitioned  the  session  for  their  rights  "  as  Eng 
lish  subjects,"  and  the  petitioners  expressed  their  opinion  that  the 
Puritan  government  was  an  ill-compacted  vessel.  In  return  for  this 
piece  of  criticism,  the  petitioners  were  fined,  and  told,  bluntly,  to 
mind  their  own.  business  for  the  future.  Political  authority  was 
entirely  absorbed  by  the  Church,  and  was  hurled  from  the  pulpit 
with  fierce  ardor.  Every  man  who  had  the  temerity  to  claim  equal 
political  liberties,  was  persecuted  in  the  courts,  and  denounced  in  the 
churches.  Indeed,  the  church-members  generally  appear  to  have 
been  pursued  in  a  most  remorseless  manner. 

The  early  settlers  in  Virginia  were,  at  first,  merely  speculators, — 
and  singularly  unfortunate  they  were  in  their  speculation.  When, 
however,  the  tide  of  emigration  began  to  flow  steadily  towards  their 
shores,  they  were  recuperated  with  some  of  the  best  blood  of  the  old 
country.  It  was  a  complaint  in  that  colony  that  too  many  "  gentle 
men"  were  sent  there.  In  the  first  vessels  dispatched  by  the  London 
company,  there  were  but  twelve  laborers,  four  carpenters,  and  a  few 
other  mechanics.  The  remainder  of  the  one  hundred  and  five  passen 
gers  were  "  gentlemen."  The  Virginians  were  Episcopalians,  disposed 
to  be  moderate  and  accommodating.  But  they  too,  like  their  breth 
ren  of  Plymouth,  thought  a  great  deal  of  their  consciences.  The 
first  extant  laws  of  Virginia  relate  more  to  the  moral  well-being  of 
the  inhabitants,  than  their  worldly  prosperity.  Virginia,  together 
with  Maryland  and  the  West  India  islands,  adhered  to  the  cause  of 
the  king.  Irritated  by  this,  the  government  fitted  out  expeditions 
against  those  places,  and  required  from  them  an  engagement  to  be 
true  and  loyal  to  the  commonwealth  of  England,  as  now  constituted, 
without  king,  and  without  House  of  Lords.  In  Massachusetts,  after 
the  Restoration,  a  different  difficulty  was  experienced.  It  took  the 
worthy  Puritans  of  that  State  a  period  of  twelve  months  to  make  up 
their  minds  whether  or  not  they  should  proclaim  King  Charles  II. 


130  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

When  they  had  concluded  to  do  so,  they  published  an  ordination 
prohibiting  all  unseemly  or  disorderly  demonstrations  of  joy. 

In  a  theological  point  of  view,  we  find  strange  contrarieties  in 
the  history  of  America,  not  the  least  being  the  palpable  intolerance 
which,  for  nearly  a  century,  tyrannized  over  the  hearts  and  minds  of 
its  inhabitants.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  this  same  history  is  the  most 
consistent  in  the  world,  so  far  as  unhesitating  resistance  to  royal  pre 
rogative  was  concerned.  The  settlers  looked  on  their,  various  charters 
as  the  fundamental  justification  of  all  their  acts.  "They  contented 
themselves  with  the  powers  conferred  upon  them  by  their  respective 
charters,  without  looking  beyond  the  seal  of  the  royal  parchment  for 
the  measure  of  their  rights  and  the  rule  of  their  duties."*  They 
would  on  no  account  consent  to  an  appeal  to  England,  not  even 
during  the  Commonwealth.  All  they  would  consent  to,  was  to  send 
out  commissioners  to  explain  why  they  had  not  paid  their  debts. 
They  preferred  settling  every  other  difficulty  amongst  themselves,  "on 
consideration  that  if  we  should  put  ourselves  under  the  protection 
of  parliament,  we  must  then  be  subject  to  all  such  laws  as  they 
should  make ;  in  which  course,  though  they  should  intend  our  good, 
yet  it  might  prove  very  prejudicial  to  us."f 

N"o  kind  of  political  concession  was  ever  made  by  the  Puritans, 
either  to  the  king's  commission,  when  headed  by  Laud,  or,  subse 
quently,  to  the  commissioners  sent  out  by  the  Long  Parliament.  In 
1672,  when  a  custom-house  was  attempted  to  be  established,  the 
Bostonians  quietly  evaded  its  exactions,  and  refused,  in  the  most  con 
temptuous  manner,  to  pay  any  kind  of  attention  to  Kandolph,  or  his 
customs  either.  The  ridiculous  dilemma  in  which  the  latter  found 
himself,  compelled  him  to  return  to  England.  He  returned  later, 
armed  with  greater  powers,  and  encountered  the  same  resistance — as, 
in  turn,  did  the  colonial  governors  appointed  by  the  home  govern 
ment.  The  Puritans  were,  from  first  to  last,  thoroughly  intractable. 
They  denied  the  justice  of  English  prerogative,  and  fought  for  every 
inch  of  privilege  in  the  sternest  manner.  They  would  not  admit  that 
*  John  Quincy.  t  Winthrop. 


THE   HEKOES   OF   THE   FOUNDERS   OF   LIBERTY.        131 

England  had  any  thing  at  all  to  do  with  them,  and  distinctly  asserted 
that  there  was  not  the  shadow  of  pretext  for  her  interference  in 
American  affairs.  The  same  spirit,  in  the  American  Revolution, 
inspired  the  courageous  hearts  of  the  citizens  of  all  the  colonies ; 
and  the  result  was  —  the  triumph  of  freedom  in  the  ]J^ew  World. 
The  sacrifices  suffered,  and  the  blood  spilt  by  the  HEROES  OF  THE 
FOUNDERS  OF  LIBERTY  had,  at  the  appointed  time,  produced  their 
fruits. 


BOUNDARIES  OF  COMTRIES-HOW  ESTABLISHED. 


41  Westward  the  Star  of  Empire  takes  it  way, 

The  four  first  acts  already  past,— 

^  A  fifth  shall  close  the'drama  with  the  day  ; 

v  Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

BISHOP  BERKELEY. 

, 

NATURE  fixes  her  limits  to  all  things.  Her.  laws  are  too  deeply 
engraven  on  the  world,  to.be  transcended  by  any  power  less  than  her 
own.  Man  may  be  impelled  by  ambition  to  compass  certain  ends, 
b<J  these  impulsive  sallies  are  harmoniously  governed  by  the  require 
ment  °f  Nature  ;  and  what  a£  $ie  first  promised  only  antagonism 
and  consequent  confusion,  is  found  in  jjie  end  to  be  tranquilly  obedi 
ent  to  the  most  comprehensive  and  beautiful  laws.  . 

To  one  who  will  sit  dcftrn  reflectingly,  with  the  world's  map  before 
hin*,  it  will  be  apparent  '  that;  '  Nature  has  from  the  beginning  fixed 
boundaries  to  avery  coimtry  ;  and  furthermore,  that  these  boundaries 
are  unalterable*  it  is  useless  attempting  to  set  aside  her  suggestions  ; 
thev  are  immutable,  Wliate;  r  hJhl  >".••  baa  thrown  out,  carri  -  with 
ft  all  the  authority  of  a  law.  Her  finger  points  to  no  great  fact  in 
the  formation  of  the  world,  that  is  not  of  itself,  sufficient  to  give 
shape  to  all  human  histories,  and  color  to  the  events  of  a  long  pro 
cession  oi  centuries. 

The  countries  of  Asia  lie  separated,  either  by  long  chains  of  towering 
mountains,  stretching  away  from  point  to  point,  until  one  is  completely 
walled  in,  and  the  rest  walled  out  ;  or  by  vast  deserts,  uninhabitable 
by  man,  trackless,  bare  of  vegetation,  destitute  of  animal  life,  and 
altogether  desolate.  Across  these  wastes,  invading  forces  in  any  great 
number  would  hardly  come.  Surrounded  by  them,  a  nation  may 

r 


134  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

repose  in  all  the  security  of  massive  walls  and  armed  forts.  They 
are  as  fixed  boundaries  for  a  country,  as  if  the  population  had  caused 
them  to  be  placed  there.  Large  inland  seas  offer  a  like  security,  as, 
for  instance,  the  Persian  Gulf,  lying  between  Arabia  and  Persia ;  the 
Red  Sea,  between  Arabia  and  Africa ;  the  Caspian,  between  Circassia 
and  Tartary  ;  or  the  Japan  Sea,  dividing  the  peoples  of  two  mon 
strously  overgrown  empires. 

Asia,  however,  is  thoroughly  cut  up  into  principalities  and  domin 
ions  by  her  lines  of  mountains — the  Great  and  Little  Altai,  separating 
the  colossal  power  of  Russia  from  the  vast  Chinese  Empire ;  the 
Himalaya,  keeping  the  Chinese  Empire  in  turn  distinct  from  India ; 
the  Beloor  mountains,  lifting  their  shoulders  between  the  same  em 
pire  and  Tartary  the  Independent ;  and  the  Hindoo  Koosh,  drawing 
the  line  between  Tartary  and  Afghanistan.  The  whole  face  of  that 
quarter  of  the  world  has  been  thus  accurately  parcelled  out  to  those 
who  dwell  upon  it. 

In  Africa  the  truth  is  no  less  plain.  The  Barbary  States,  can 
extend  no  further  south  than  to  the  great  Desert  of  Sahara ;  Soudan, 
beginning  with  the  southernmost  limit  of  the  desert,  stop  at  the  bar 
rier  interposed  by  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon  ;  the  countries  along 
the  western  coast  reach  into  the  dim  confines  of  Ethiopia,  where  all  is 
unknown  in  that  land  of  the  Sim. 

Europe,  peopled  by  a  great  variety  of  races,  obeys  minutely  tlieso 
physical  laws.  Her  nations  are  so  many,  that  smaller  boundaries  are 
necessary,  and  become  objects  of  grave  political  consideration.  As 
civilization  advances  from  the  East,  it  seems  to  grow  correspondingly 
jealous  of  its  rights  and  privileges  ;  rivers,  lakes,  channels,  and  moun 
tains  are  impressed  into  her  service.  Behold  the  Alps,  lofty  and 
grand,  walling  in  the  independent  little  region  called  Switzerland,  a 
name  that  invariably  summons  the  word  Liberty  to  the  tongue. 
There  are  the  Pyrenees,  eternal  bounds  for  both  France  and  Spain ; 
the  Scandinavian  chain,  parting  Norway  and  Sweden  as  naturally 
as  if  that  were  the  single  purpose  of  their  erection.  There  stretch 
along  the  Carpathians,  hemming  in  Austria  from  Prussia  and  Russia. 


BOUNDAKIES   OF   COUNTRIES.  135 

We  need  but  to  glance  at  the  course  of  the  immcrtal  Rhine,  to 
believe,  with  the  great  Napoleon,  that  nature  intended  it  for  the 
eastern  limit  to  France.  The  Danube,  -with  its  numerous  mouths, 
forms  a  natural  boundary  to  Turkey  and  her  Principalities  against 
Russia  and  Austria.  The  Rhine  again  performs  its  part  in  dividing 
one  petty  German  kingdom  from  another  ;  and  the  Tornea  completes 
the  work  for  Sweden,  against  Russia,  which  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  seems 
to  have  left  unfinished.  A  narrow  channel  alone  separates  England 
from  France — two  nations  whose  boast  it  is  that  they  combinedly 
stand  in  the  front  of  the  world.  Denmark  is  hemmed  in  by  a  couple 
of  channels,  from  both  Norway  and  Sweden.  Sweden,  in  turn,  rests 
secure  against  Russia,  with  the  Baltic  and  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia  inter 
posed  between  them. 

In  all  these  national  divisions,  the  hand  of  Nature  is  but  too 
apparent.  Her  suggestions  must  everywhere  be  obeyed.  Whoever 
deliberately  opposes  them,  thinking  by  the  force  of  his  own  will  to 
change  these  natural  limits,  is  surely  throwing  himself  upon  a  stone 
that  will  in  the  end  grind  him  to  powder. 

Poor  Poland  !  she  has  no  boundaries  at  all !  An  open  plain,  she 
became  the  prey  of  nations  stronger  than  herself.  She  has  no  moun 
tains  to  keep  imperial  Russia  back ;  none  to  hold  in  check  the  rulers 
of  Prussia  ;  none  to  shut  out  the  cruel  forces  of  the  more  cruel  House 
of  Hapsburg.  She  encamped  on  a  broad  plain ;  and  there  was  she 
stealthily  surrounded  and  set  upon  by  three  robbers  with  crowns  upon 
their  brows,  and  her  nationality,  bleeding  and  dying,  torn  limb  from 
limb.  Yet  let  us  hope  that  Poland  has  a  future,  and  that  the  morn 
ing  of  her  resurrection  is  approaching. 

"  Plains  are  the  proper  territories  of  tyranny.  There  the  arms  of 
a  usurper  may  extend  themselves  with  ease,  leaving  no  corner  unoc 
cupied  in  which  patriotism  might  shelter  or  treason  hide.  But  moun 
tains,  glens,  morasses,  and  lakes  set  bounds  to  conquest ;  and  amidst 
these  is  the  impregnable  seat  of  Liberty."  This  is  lamentably  true 
in  the  case  of  Poland.  On  the  other  hand,  the  freedom  that  has  lived 
through  the  storms  of  so  many  years,  amidst  the  mountain-heights  of 


136  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Switzerland,  proves  the  justice  of  the  observation.  And  where  have 
men,  single-handed,  as  it  were,  offered  such  bold,  resolute,  and  defi 
ant  opposition  to  all  the  usurpations  of  tyranny,  as  in  the  moun 
tains  of  Scotland  ?  The  tales  of  her  heroes  make  one's  blood  tingle 
with  admiration.  The  names  of  Wallace  and  Bruce,  engraven  on  the 
heart  of  every  real  lover  of  freedom,  will  live  till  the  "  last  syllable 
of  recorded  time."  Their  examples  will  never  die,  but  the  spirit  of 
Freedom  which  breathes  through  them,  will  move  forward  in  silence, 
but  with  power,  till  the  whole  globe  is  finally  encircled  in  its  blessed 
embrace. 

On  this  Western  continent,  nations  have  as  yet  hardly  settled  them 
selves  in  their  natural  positions.  As  it  is  a  comparatively  new  field 
of  operation,  so  must  many  things  that  are  esteemed  fixed  in  the 
Old  World,  continue  for  a  long  time  in  a  state  of  transition.  Princi 
ples  may  be  established,  yet,  from  their  very  nature,  they  may  keep 
all  persons  in  a  state  of  perpetual  activity.  Such  are  the  principles 
of  popular  liberty — offering  freedom  to  every  man,  opening  grand 
fields  for  the  exercise  of  his  various  powers,  and  inciting  him  to  con 
tinued  exertion. 

The  original  thirteen  States  lay  stretched  along  the  Atlantic  coast. 
In  their  front  was  a  vast  ocean ;  in  their  rear  an  almost  impenetrable 
wilderness.  Little  did  the  early  settlers  think  that  small  beginning 
was  to  result,  least  of  all  to  result  so  speedily,  in  the  subjugation  of  a 
broad  continent  to  the  purposes  of  a  high  civilization.  Their  first 
thought  was  for  their  own  protection.  They  sought  to  command  an 
independent  subsistence.  In  industry,  in  heroic  resolve  and  action,  in 
energy  and  persistent  endurance,  no  people  ever  lived  who  were  their 
superiors.  In  taking  wise  thought  for  themselves,  they  seem  never  to 
have  forgotten  the  great  and  distinctive  principles  on  which,  their  polit 
ical  system  was  founded.  It  was  self-preservation  ;  but  that  involved 
something  far  more  lofty  than  mere  selfishness.  Periling  their  lives 
and  fortunes  in  defence  of  their  convictions,  they  did  not  forget,  in 
the  flush  of  success,  the  cause  on  which  their  very  lives  depended. 
To  men  actuated  by  such  principles,  ordinary  natural  boundaries 


BOUND AKIES   OF   COUNTRIES.  137 

could  offer  but  trifling-  impediments  in  the  work  upon  which  they 
were  engaged.  The  spirit  of  their  principles  was  expansive,  perpetu 
ally  enlarging*  its  limits.  Our  fathers  settled  the  whole  of  the  im 
mense  tract  extending  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  Every  imaginable  tie 
held  together  the  people  at  the  extremes  of  the  Union,  equally  with 
those  who  were  neighbors.  The  purpose  that  pervaded  all  hearts 
alike,  and  cemented  the  union  which  a  common  interest  had  been 
instrumental  in  forming,  was  one  that  readily  leaped  the  widest 
streams,  and  found  its  way  over  the  highest  mountains.  It  was  no 
more  to  be  controlled  by  the  limits  of  natural  bounds,  than  the  silent 
and  mysterious  passage  of  light  could  be  checked  by  the  impotent 
ordering  of  man. 

If  now  we  direct  our  attention  to  the  map  of  the  United  States,  we 
shall  see  that  Nature  had  apparently  set  no  limits  to  the  growth  of 
this  nation,  save  perhaps  the  Mississippi  River,  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
or  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Our  march  was  still  westward,  in  obedience  to 
the  inexorable  law.  Forests  fell,  as  if  by  magic,  before  the  ringing 
axe  of  our  sturdy  pioneers.  Broad  fields  lay  extended  in  the  sunlight, 
where,  but  a  short  time  before,  wild  beasts  found  their  coverts  and 
hunted  their  prey.  Acre  after  acre  waved  with  the  bending  wheat 
and  rye,  and  gleamed  with  the  yellow  gold  of  ripening  corn.  Cabins 
dotted  the  hillsides,  and  mill-wheels  flashed  in  the  running  streams. 
Hamlets  grew  and  thickened.  Villages  everywhere  gave  a  new  life 
and  light  to  the  landscape.  Towns  and  cities  sent  up  their  busy 
hum,  and  the  air  was  alive  with  the  sounds  and  voices  of  intelligent 
and  independent  industry. 

In  an  incredibly  short  time,  State  after  State  was  added  to  the 
confederacy,  wheeling  into  the  ranks  with  all  the  order  and  precision 
of  a  military  manoeuvre.  Each  remained  an  independent  power,  yet 
materially  contributed  to  the  strength  of  the  confederacy.  The  trou 
bles  that  were  so  readily  imagined  for  us,  as  a  consequence  of  such 
rapid  and  unexampled  growth,  all  dissipated  like  dew  before  the 
morning  sun.  Those  who  watched  our  course  with  critical  eyes, 
could  not  understand  that  the  very  spirit  of  our  institutions  begat 


138  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

harmony,  and  not  discord ;  that  it  had  no  relation  to  conquest, 
nor  even  to  a  selfish  ambition,  but  that  it  exerted  itself  rather  upon 
the  convictions  and  feelings  of  men,  than  upon  either  their  will  or 
their  power  of  resistance.  It  appealed  only  to  men's  volition,  never 
to  their  obstinacy.  It  sought  only  to  win  over,  never  to  compel. 
The  first  fruit  of  such  a  spirit  could  not  fail  to  be  peace. 

We  kept  growing  at  the  same  unparalleled  rate  continually.  We 
reached  the  Mississippi  and  the  Mexican  Gulf.  Here,  said  some  of 
our  wisest  statesmen,  we  will  rest.  "  Thus  far,  and  no  farther."  But 
the  great  coil  of  events  in  our  national  history  was  only  beginning  to 
run  out.  It  would  be  a  long  time  before  we  should  come  to  the  end. 
The  spirit  of  enterprise,  the  highest  characteristic  of  the  American 
people,  was  nowise  content  to  rest  here.  The  great  Mississippi  poured 
itself  into  the  Gulf ;  but  why  could  it  not  wash  States  on  both  shores 
as  well  as  on  one?  Was  that  turbid  current  a  sufficient  limit  for  the 
energies  of  free  culture  and  free  institutions  ?  The  indomitable  men 
of  the  nation  said  No,  and  forward  went  the  work  of  settling  and 
civilizing  an  entire  continent. 

Texas  was  with  us,  and  became  a  part  of  as.  We  founded  a  great 
and  powerful  State  on  the  Pacific  shore,  as  if  to  be  a  new  inducement 
to  draw  us  over  the  mountains  and  deserts  that  lay  between.  Oregon 
claimed  a  place  by  our  side,  her  people  and  ours  being  one  in  sym 
pathy,  as  they  were  in  blood  and  education.  And  the  great  Western 
and  Northwestern  Territories  were  finally  partitioned  out,  receiving 
their  names  and  forms  of  government.  The  inquiry  was  next  made, — 
Are  not  the  Rocky  Mountains  a  natural  division  for  the  country  ? 
But  the  question  seems  suddenly  to  have  answered  itself.  Already 
pre  have  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains.  We  have  conquered  them. 
They  are  no  longer  impassable.  We  have  friends,  neighbors,  sons, 
brothers,  who  inhabit  that  far-off  land.  The  very  ideas  of  boundary, 
jvhich  they  once  so  naturally  excited  in  our  minds,  have  fallen  away 
ipon  a  nearer  acquaintance  with  them,  and  now  hardly  exist  at  all. 

This  age  of  steam  and  lightning,  of  discovery  and  perpetual  appli 
cation,  is  performing  incredible  things  in  bringing  distant  places  and 


BOUNDARIES   OF   COUNTRIES.  139 

people  together.  It  seems  almost  to  keep  abreast  with  sympathy 
itself  in  the  race.  The  spirit  that  vitalizes  it,  tunnels  mountains, 
bridges  our  widest  rivers,  leaps  deserts  at  a  single  bound,  and  stops 
only  with  the  vast  ocean  itself.  Our  brethren  in  California  and 
Oregon  are  not  more  distant  from  us  to-day,  than  were  the  early 
settlers  of  Ohio  but  thirty  years  ago.  Nothing  could  have  worked 
such  a  revolution  but  a  radical  change,  or  progressiveness,  in  ideas. 
Distance  itself  has  not  diminished,  but  its  effects  have  been  reduced 
in  estimation.  We  are  put  in  closer  communication  this  day  with 
our  brethren  on  the  far-off  Pacific  shore,  than  we  formerly  were  with 
the  pioneers  on  our  Western  frontiers.  Nothing  has  wrought  this 
great  change  but  our  own  efforts.  Our  energy  and  enterprise  have 
accomplished  all.  And  what  yet  remains  undone,  the  coming  years 
will  certainly  behold  completely  realized. 

Perhaps  with  different  institutions,  some  such  natural  barrier  as  the 
Rocky  Mountains  present,  would  fix  a  final  limit  to  their  progress. 
Under  forms  of  government  that  hold  men  as  mere  subjects,  such  an 
obstacle  might  prevail ;  but  under  ours,  wherein  each  man  is  consi 
dered  a  citizen,  such  a  chain  of  mountains  but  creates  an  additional 
spur  to  enterprise.  Educated  to  the  most  liberal  and  comprehensive 
habits  of  thought,  our  minds  seem  only  to  expand  with  the  contem 
plation  of  these  things,  and  our  ideas  sympathize  with  the  geographi 
cal  magnitude  of  our  rivers,  plains,  and  mountains.  Freedom  may 
perch  upon  the  summits  of  that  rocky  chain,  and  descend  thence 
into  the  broad  valleys  on  either  side  ;  but  monarchy  would  be  unable 
to  breathe  so  pure  and  bracing  an  atmosphere.  They  may  stand  as 
landmarks, — scarred,  whitened,  and  time-honored  ;  but  never  need 
they  stand  as  limits  either  to  civilization  or  the  living  spirit  that 
holds  us  together  as  a  mighty  people.  On  to  the  ocean !  There 
can  be  no  natural  boundary  but  its  shore.  There  this  great  Republic 
rests ;  there  its  ships  anchor.  We  are  ready  to  accept  no  confines, 
save  those  vast  oceans  that  wash  with  their  never-sleeping  waves  our 
eastern  and  western  coasts ! 

In  time,  greater  things  are  destined  to  be  accomplished.     New 


140  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Mexico  is  ours ;  shall  not  the  whole  empire  of  Cortez  be  ours,  not  by 
force,  or  conquest,  or  fraud,  but  in  obedience  to  the  same  laws  that 
have  extended  our  institutions  across  this  continent?  Will  not  that 
enfeebled  and  enervate  nation  in  time  awake  to  the  real  blessings  of 
self-government,  of  industry,  of  enterprise,  and  of  free  institutions  ? 
Aud  Central  America, — is  there  any  hindrance  to  her  many  petty 
powers  throwing  aside  their  differences,  and  coming  peacefully  and 
hopefully  under  the  influence  of  this  large  family  of  States  ?  Cuba 
was  plainly  intended  by  nature  as  the  key  to  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  will  yet  be  knocking  at  our  doors,  for  the  day  cannot 
be  far  distant  when  she  will  be/ree. 

On  the  north,  we  see  no  reason  why  the  great  lakes  interpose  any 
boundary  between  ourselves  and  Canada.  We  see  not  why  all  will 
not  yet  become  UNITED  AMERICA.  We  are  not  able  to  understand 
why  an  imaginary  parallel  of  latitude  should  keep  the  spirit  of  free 
thought  back,  dooming  it  to  a  tract  that  has  been  bounded  and  sur 
veyed  by  the  dictum  of  a  purely  arbitrary  power.  The  new  recipro 
city  treaty  is  a  long  step  in  the  direction  desired.  The  Provinces  on 
the  east  are  separated  only  by  lines  that  may  be  easily  wiped  out, 
but  not  at  all  by  any  such  great  and  deep  differences  in  sympathy  as 
divide  nations.  Their  natural  interests  areMn  common  with  our  own, 
Their  modes  of  thinking  continually  assimilate  to  ours.  Their  pur 
suit'.:  require  the  same  perseverance  and  courage  in  order  to  attain 
like  results.  And  it  can  hardly  be  questioned  that  the  logical  course 
of  <: vents  will  in  due  time  bring  them  also,  peacefully  and  voluntarily, 
ini<>  this  extended  federal  compact.  Our  boundaries  are  wide  apart, 
Mi:;!  contain  territory  enough  to  sustain  a  countless  population.  Under 
fioe  institutions  like  ours,  all  may  rise  to  the  level  of  their  true  destiny; 
ii/iividual  selfishness  and  usurpation  cease,  and  nothing  but  wishes 
[';>,•  die  common  good  be  in  the  ascendant.  Who  can  clearly  predict 
the  condition  of  our  country  in  the  far-off  future  ?  We  are  alive  with 
hope, — a  hope  that  blazes  with  a  brighter  and  still  brighter  illumi 
nation,  lighting  us  along  on  the  broad  pathway  of  realization. 


ROMANISM  AND  FREEDOM. 

"  By  the  patriot's  hallowed  rest, 
By  the  warrior's  gory  breast, 
Never  let  our  graves  be  prest 
By  a  despot's  throne." 

FlERREPOXT. 

THE  advocates  of  Romanism  claim  that  she  is  the  patron  of  learning 
and  of  freedom ! — the  encourager  of  free  thought,  free  opinion,  and 
free  expression ;  and  there  are  some  favorite  examples  quoted  to 
maintain  this  monstrous  proposition.  The  Magna  Charta,  the  very 
groundwork  of  freedom,  is  held  up  as  the  fruit  of  Catholic  liberality, 
and  so  continually  announced  in  our  Legislative  Halls,  from  the 
stump,  and  in  flaming  editorials.  Unfolding  the  page  of  history,  we 
find  that  John,  king  of  England,  engaged  in  a  controversy  with  the 
Pope,  which  resulted  in  the  king's  yielding  up  his  possessions  to  the 
Holy  See,  and  receiving  them  back  as  a  vassal.  The  proud  Barons, 
who  at  the  time  possessed  no  defined  rights,  could  not  brook  the  in 
sults  and  degradation  which  were  heaped  upon  them  through  the 
weakness  of  their  king,  and  solemnly  demanded,  for  their  protection, 
what  is  now  known  as  the  Magna  Charta.  In  the  straggle  between 
the  lords  and  the  crown,  the  Pope  took  part  with  John  against  the 
Barons,  and  brought  the  whole  of  his  temporal  and  spiritual  power 
to  defeat  their  demands.  Against  them  Pope  Innocent,  from  the  Coun 
cil  of  Lateran,  thundered  his  bulls  of  excommunication : — "  We  will 
have  you  to  know,  that  in  General  Council  we  have  excommunicated 
and  anathematized,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  in  the  name  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  and  in  our 
own  name,  the  Barons  of  England,  with  their  partisans  and  abettors. 


A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

for  persecuting  John,  the  illustrious  King  of  England,  who  has  taken 
the  cross,  and  is  a  vassal  of  the  Roman  Church,  for  striving  to  deprive 
him  of  a  kingdom,  which  is  known  to  belong  to  the  Roman  Church." 

The  example  of  France,  which  has  in  modern  times  shaken  off  n 
t^anuical  monarchy,  and  made  approaches  towards  republican  insti 
tutions,  has  been  held  up  as  a  testimony  that  Romanism  favors 
liberty.  The  French  people  always  resisted,  more  perseveringly  than 
those  of  any  other  Catholic  country,  the  assumptions  of  Popery ;  to 
France,  the  world  is  indebted,  not  only  for  Catholics  imbued  with  n 
true  spirit  of  Christianity,  but  also  for  some  of  the  most  powerful 
writers  against  the  assumptions  of  the  Holy  See.  The  Kings  of 
France  ever  contended  for  the  right  of  appointing  their  own  Bishops, 
and  it  was  only  under  monarchs  most  deeply  imbued  with  Romanism 
that  France  found  her  greatest  tyrants.  Of  late  years,  as  the  light 
of  true  liberty  has  made  encroachments  upon  the  domain  of  despot 
ism,  it  has  modified  the  illiberality  of  darker  times,  and  one  of  the 
first  fruits  of  the  late  popular  revolutions  in  that  country  was  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State,  and  protection  to  every  religious 
belief.  But  France,  liberal  as  her  people  naturally  are,  is  yet  too 
much  under  the  influence  of  Roman  supremacy  to  be  quoted  as  an 
example  of  religious  toleration. 

It  seems  but  yesterday  that  Rome  herself  woke  from  her  long 
night  of  slavery,  and  declaring  herself  free,  her  spiritual  and  temporal 
despot,  the  Pope,  fled  from  her  walls,  and  took  refuge  in  Gacta.  The 
regenerated  Romans  offered  to  receive  the  Pope  as  their  spiritual 
head,  but  resolutely  insisted  on  the  abolition  of  his  temporal  power, 
and  that  of  his  tyrannical  cardinals.  The  overture  was  scorned,  and 
the  work  of  their  subjugation  to  despotism  was  assigned  to  Franco, 
and,  in  spite  of  her  Republicanism,  the  lingering  slavery  of  priestcraft 
was  so  wrought  into  the  blood  and  bones  of  her  rulers  and  her  sol 
diery,  that  she  accepted  the  work,  marched  her  armies  on  Rome, 
bombarded  and  carried  the  city  by  assault,  and  crushed  the  new 
Republic  and  the  liberals  of  Italy  in  the  dust. 

Maryland,  settled  under  the  auspices  of  Cecil  Calvert,  a  Catholic, 


ROMANISM   AND   FREEDOM.  143 

and  by  its  charter  granting  popular  liberty  and  religious  freedom,  has 
been  held  up  as  an  example  of  Catholic  toleration.  The  wily  Bishop, 
the  innocent  layman,  and  the  designing  politician,  can  never  suffi 
ciently  eulogize  the  liberality  that  characterized  that  Colonial  govern 
ment,  where,  in  times  of  universal  intolerance,  men  could  live  unmo 
lested  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of  conscience.  If  this  were  the 
result  of  the  direct  interference  of  the  Roman  Church,  had  it  been 
voluntarily  suggested  by  Lord  Baltimore,  then  it  certainly  would 
have  been  an  illustrious  example,  and  would  have  stood  out  a  monu 
ment  of  light  from  among  the  accumulated  darkness.  But  history 
shows,  that  neither  the  Church  nor  its  adherents  in  any  way  favored 
the  cause  of  liberty,  so  far  as  the  early  settlement  of  Maryland  was 
concerned. 

If  Lord  Baltimore  had  been  a  Protestant  nobleman,  a  Protestant 
prince  would  have  granted  him  a  charter  for  a  Protestant  province. 
If  the  king  had  been  a  Catholic,  a  Catholic  proprietary  would  have 
procured  a  charter  for  a  Catholic  province.  This  course  of  action 
characterizes  the  history  of  the  period.  The  luminous  and  beautiful 
exception  of  Maryland  to  the  spirit  of  colonization  of  the  seventeenth 
century  was  owing  to  the  happy  coincidence  of  a  wise  and  energetic 
statesman  receiving  a  charter  from  a  Protestant  monarch  jealous  of 
his  faith,  and  both  statesman  and  monarch  compelled  to  pay  defer 
ence  to  the  progressive  doctrines  and  political  strength  of  the  Inde 
pendents  of  England,  who  were  then  preparing  the  way  for  successful 
revolution,  and  the  final  triumph  of  universal  liberty,  in  these  Ameri 
can  States.* 

The  claim  that  Romanism  is  in  favor  of  free  thought,  free  expres 
sion,  and  free  opinion,  is  never  urged  by  her  votaries  out  of  the  United 
States ;  the  policy  of  doing  it  in  this  country,  however,  sometimes 
becomes  insupportable,  and  the  leading  Catholic  presses  occasionally 
break  forth  in  the  following  natural  language : 

"  No  good  government  can  exist  without  religion — and  there  can 

*  See  History  of  Democracy  in  the  United  States,  Maryland,  p.  199. 


A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

be  no  religion  without  an  Inquisition,  which  is  wisely  designed  for 
the  promotion  and  protection  of  the  true  faith."* 

"  For  our  own  part,  we  take  this  opportunity  to  explain  our  hearty 
delight  at  the  suppression  of  the  Protestant  chapel  in  Rome.  This 
may  be  thought  intolerant ;  but  when,  we  ask,  Did  we  ever  profess  to 
bo  tolerant  of  Protestantism,  or  to  favor  the  question  that  Protestant 
ism  ought  to  be  tolerated  ?  On  the  contrary,  we  HATE  Protestantism — 
we  DETEST  it  with  our  whole  heart  and  soul,  and  we  pray  our  aversion 
to  it  may  never  decrease."! 

In  the  United  States  toleration  is  claimed  as  a  Papal  virtue,  be 
cause  it  is  known  to  be  harmonious  with  public  sentiment.  Upon 
the  Continent  of  Europe  all  is  different,  and  Romanism  becomes  the 
strong  right  arm  of  despotism,  and  the  enemy  of  every  thing  that  is 
free.  Not  the  supporter  of  tyranny  by  inference  of  its  enthusiastic 
devotees,  but  by  the  powerful  precepts  of  its  written  laws,  sanctioned 
by  all  the  solemnities  of  tradition,  and  all  the  massive  machinery  of 
the  Church.  Of  the  doctrines  of  the  Council  of  Trent  it  is  decreed, 
"  If  any  one  shall  presume  to  teach,  or  to  think  differently  from  these 
decrees,  let  him  be  accursed."  As  late  as  1832,  the  Church,  through 
Gregory  XVII.,  in  its  famous  Encyclical  letter,  pronounces,  "  From 
that  polluted  fountain  of  indifference  flows  the  absurd  and  erroneous 
doctrine,  or  rather  raving,  in  favor  and  in  defence  of  liberty  of  con 
science,  for  which  most  pestilential  error,  the  course  opened  by  that 
entire  and  wild  liberty  of  opinion,  which  is  everywhere  attempting 
the  overthrow  of  civil  and  religious  institutions,  and  which  the  un 
blushing  impudence  of  some  has  held  forth  as  an  advantage  to  re 
ligion."  "  From  hence  arise  those  revolutions  in  the  minds  of  men, 
hence  this  aggravated  corruption  of  youths,  hence  the  contempt 
among  the  people  of  sacred  things,  and  of  the  most  holy  institutions 
and  laws ;  hence,  in  one  word,  that  pest  of  all  others  most  to  be 
dreaded  in  a  State,  unbridled  liberty  of  opinion." 

The  establishment  of  the  Inquisition  in  the  sixteenth  century  was 

*  Boston  Pilot.  t  Pittsburg  Catholic  Visitor,  1848. 


ROMANISM  AND  FREEDOM.  145 

for  the  avowed  purpose  of  putting  down  free  thought,  free  expression, 
and  free  opinion.  Under  its  sway,  enormities  were  committed  which 
make  humanity  shudder.  Under  its  administration  John  Louis  Vivis, 
a  Spaniard  of  great  learning  and  reputation,  bewails  the  fate  of  mode 
rate  and  charitable  Catholics  even  in  Spain ;  what  must  have  been 
the  fate  of  avowed  Protestants  who  came  under  its  condemnation? 
Says  Vivis,  in  a  letter  to  Erasmus,  dated  May  18th,  1534,  "  "We  live 
in  hard  times,  in  which  we  can  neither  speak  or  be  silent  without 
danger."  In  the  forty-three  years  of  the  administrations  of  the  first 
four  Inquisitors-General,  which  closed  in  the  year  1524,  they  com 
mitted  eighteen  thousand  human  beings  to  the  flames,  and  inflicted 
inferior  punishments  on  two  hundred  thousand  persons  more,  with 
various  degrees  of  severity.  It  was  this  work  of  the  Inquisition  in 
Spain,  with  a  knowledge  that  the  Spanish  and  French  monarchs 
meditated  the  extension  over  all  Christendom  of  the  Inquisition,  that 
seated  Elizabeth  firmly  on  the  throne  of  England,  and  secured  that 
political  toleration  that  led  to  the  brightest  triumphs  of  the  Ref 
ormation. 

Popish  devotees  are  made  to  believe,  and  Protestants  are  constantly 
told,  that  the  Inquisition  was  not  established  by  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  therefore  the  Church  is  not  to  be  held  accountable  for  any  of  its 
acts;  yet  we  find  Saint  Liguori,  one  of  the  most  reverend  of  the 
Fathers,  says, — 

"  Pope  Paul  III.  established  the  General  Inquisition  at  Rome,  in 
the  year  1542,  by  his  Bull  34,  commencing  with  the  words  *  Licet  ab 
initio.'" — (Ligor.  de  Prohib.  Libro,  p.  238.)  "In  the  General  Con 
gregation,"  continues  the  Saint,  "  of  the  holy  Roman  and  Universal 
Inquisition,  held  in  the  Apostolical  Quiriual  Palace,  before  our  MOST 
HOLT  LORD,  Lord  Benedict,  by  Divine  Providence  the  fourteenth 
Pope,  and  before  the  most  eminent  and  most  serene  doctors,  the  Car 
dinals  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church,  specially  deputed  by  the  holy 
Apostolical  See,  General  Inquisitors  against  heretical  pravity." — 
(Ligor.  de  Rom.  Pont.,  Dec.  iii,  p.  85.) 
'  The  fact  that  the  Romish  Church  assumes  to  be  infallible,  of  neces- 


146  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

sity  makes  her  intolerant.  Her  arrogant  claim  of  supremacy  above 
all  governments  of  the  earth  in  things  spiritual,  must  also  of  necessity 
make  her  an  enemy  to  free  thought  and  action.  The  truth  of  this 
position  is  clearly  set  forth  in  the  Rhemish  Testament,  which  urges 
that  "  the  blood  of  heretics  is  not  called  the  blood  of  saints,  no  more 
than  the  blood  of  thieves,  man-killers,  and  other  malefactors,  for  the 
shedding  of  which,  by  order  of  justice,  no  commonwealth  shall  suiter." 
— (Rhem.  Test.,  Annot.  upon  Rev.  xvii.  6.) 

"  Experience  teaches,"  says  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  "  that  there  is  no 
other  remedy  for  the  evil  but  to  put  heretics  to  death ;  for  the  Church 
proceeded  gradually,  and  tried  every  remedy.  At  first,  she  merely 
excommunicated  them ;  afterward  she  added  a  fine ;  then  she  ban 
ished  them  ;  and  finally  she  was  constrained  to  put  them  to  death."— 
(Bellarm.  de  Laicis,  lib.  iii.  c.  21.) 

Finally,  as  an  utter  refutation  of  the  claim  Romanism  makes  to 
free  thought,  free  expression,  and  free  opinion,  we  quote  the  language 
of  the  General  Council  of  Lateran,  which  says,  "  Let  the  secular 
powers  be  compelled,  if  necessary,  to  exterminate  to  their  utmost 
power  all  heretics  denoted  by  the  Church." — (Gen.  Coun.  Lett.,  A.  D. 
1215.) 

Such  are  the  assumptions  of  this  mighty  religio-political  organi 
zation,  which,  under  the  mild  aegis  of  our  Republican  institutions, 
sends  forth  both  its  deceived  and  its  knowing  disciples,  to  teach  the 
people  of  America,  that  it  cherishes  the  fundamental  principles  of 
Republicanism,  denying  for  the  time  its  most  ancient  doctrines,  deny 
ing  its  practice  through  centuries,  and  seemingly  holding  in  contempt 
the  intelligence  of  the  American  people,  by  claiming  attributes  so 
utterly  opposed  to  its  practices  and  precepts.  That  the  Jesuitical 
foreign  priest  who  was  born  under  the  system,  nursed  in  its  iniquities, 
who  has  no  home,  no  ambition,  no  future,  no  glory  that  does  not  centre 
in  Rome,  should  be  willing  to  load  his  conscience  down  with  mental 
reservations,  or  being  so  utterly  corrupt,  from  his  early  education,  to 
know  nothing  as  right  but  the  building  up  of  his  Church; — that 
such  a  man  should  claim  any  thing  and  every  thing  for  Papacy,  that 


ROMANISM   AND   FREEDOM.  147 

would  palliate  the  opposition  of  the  American  mind  to  its  despotic 
and  liberty-crushing  requirements,  is  not  strange ;  but  the  terrible 
influence  of  Papal  power  is  more  awfully  illustrated  than  in  any 
other  case,  when  it  can  make  a  free  and  independent  native-born 
citizen,  educated  and  enlightened,  and  accustomed  in  his  early  life  to 
think  and  act  for  himself,  suddenly  cease  to  have  a  mind  of  his  own, 
suddenly  deny  the  truths  of  history,  suddenly  discard  the  lessons  of 
his  own  experience,  and  the  accumulated  testimony  of  ages,  and  de 
clare  that  in  the  Romish  Church  there  is  free  thought  and  free  ex 
pression,  and  support  it  by  sophisms  upon  history,  that  upon  exami 
nation  by  the  light  of  truth  are  dissipated,  and  leave  the  advocate  in 
the  condition  of  a  person  who  willingly  lends  himself  to  deceptions 
of  the  grossest  kind,  or  who,  if  sincere,  must  be  passed  upon  as  in 
capable,  from  ghostly  influence,  of  announcing  the  truth. 

No  historical  fact  can  be  produced  which  will  show  that  the  Pope 
of  Rome  has  aided  in  any  cause  that  might  properly  be  termed  one 
of  freedom,  or  that  any  of  his  official  councils,  or  any  acknowledged 
councils  of  the  Church,  have  ever  done  any  thing  to  enlighten  the 
people,  and  encourage  them  in  the  principles  of  self-government. 
The  present  Pontiff  may  be  presumed  to  have  as  enlarged  views  as 
any  of  his  predecessors,  yet  he  is  as  far  removed  from  encouraging 
republican  ideas  as  the  most  bigoted  prelate  of  the  dark  ages.  He 
represents,  in  this  matter,  not  himself,  but  his  Church ;  and  acts  only 
in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  dictates  of  the  great  religio-political 
institution  of  which  he  is  the  head.  Pius  IX.  blessed  the  Czar  of 
Russia,  and  the  newly  made  Emperor  of  Austria,  because  they  aided 
in  restoring  him  to  his  throne,  from  which  he  had  been  driven  by  the 
republicans  of  Italy.  At  the  same  time  he  cursed  Piedmont  and  Bel 
gium,  because  they  asserted  that  the  civil  power  was  superior  in  civil 
matters  to  the  power  of  the  priests,  and  attempted  to  escape  from 
some  of  the  galling  usurpations  of  Rome.  Pius  entered  the  hospitals, 
filled  with  wounded  republicans  who  had  fallen  in  the  attempt  to  give 
liberty  to  the  people,  and  poured  out  upon  them  his  especial  maledic 
tions.  To  the  wounded  French — those  hireling  troops  who  had  been 


14:8  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

employed  to  stifle  liberty — he  dispensed  his  blessing,  and  loaded  them 
with  rosaries,  medals,  and  crosses  of  honor.  Such  was  his  treatment 
to  the  men  who  had  cruelly  shot  down  his  own  subjects — his  own 
people  !  The  bones  of  the  martyrs  of  liberty  were  left  to  decay 
upon  the  surface  of  the  ground  ;  and,  in  this  nineteenth  century, 
travellers  were  disgusted  in  witnessing  this  savage  cruelty,  allowed 
almost  under  the  very  walls  of  the  Vatican.  "We  repeat,  that  Pius  IX., 
in  these  enormities,  represents  the  principle  of  his  Church ;  and  were 
he  to  act  more  liberal — more  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the 
dge — he  would  cease  to  be  Pope ;  for  Romanism  and  freedom  will 
ever  be  at  war. 


EFFECTS  OF  ROMANISM  AND  PROTESTANTISM 
ON  CIVILIZATION. 

"  The  prosperity  of  a  country  is  founded  upon  the  intelligence  of  its  inhabitants.  This  intelligence 
is  dependent  upon  an  enlightened  religious  belief ;  for  the  highest  civilization  is  the  result  of  the 
purest  Christianity." 

THREE  centuries  ago,  the  people  of  the  continent  of  Europe  became 
divided  by  the  Reformation ;  those  of  the  North  embraced  Protestant 
ism,  those  of  the  South  remained  Romanist.  The  great  powers  sided 
with  Rome ;  the  second-rate  embraced  the  new  faith.  The  former 
held  command  over  the  most  fruitful  domains  of  the  Old  and  New 
"World,  and  swayed  the  sceptre  of  ocean.  Literature,  science,  and 
the  arts  were  theirs.  The  latter,  in  comparison,  had  received  but  little 
from  Nature,  and  commerce  and  manufactures  were  scarcely  known 
amongst  them.  Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  in  the  sixteenth  cen 
tury.  Let  us  now  examine  the  transformation  which  these  respective 
countries  have  undergone. 

At  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  Spain  was  the  first  among  the 
nations  of  Europe.  By  comparing  its  former  with  its  present  state, 
we  shall  discover  how  much  it  has  lost ;  and  this  loss  is  owing,  if 
not  entirely,  at  least  in  part,  to  its  religious  faith.  Never  was  a  nation 
so  completely  under  the  influence  of  Romanism  as  Spain.  She  pre 
sented  a  brilliant  picture  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  for  the  conquest 
of  Grenada  had  raised  her  to  the  pinnacle  of  wealth  and  prosperity. 
While  the  nobility  gave  themselves  up  to  the  profession  of  arms,  the 
other  classes  enriched  their  country  by  assiduous  labor.  On  all  sides, 
irrigation,  canals,  and  reservoirs  distributed  water  over  the  remotest 
and  most  barren  tracts.  Agriculture  was  especially  honored,  whilst 


150  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

industry  and  commerce  added  to  the  general  prosperity.  The  devel 
opment  of  trade  was  equal  to  that  of  industry.  A  minister  of  Philip 
the  Second,  asserted,  in  an  assembly  of  the  Cortes,  that  at  the  fair  of 
Medina  del  Campo,  in  15G3,  business  was  transacted  to  the  amount 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  millions  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
A  multitude  of  trading  vessels  set  sail  every  year  from  various  ports, 
conveying  to  Italy,  Asia  Minor,  Africa,  and  the  East  Indies,  the  pro 
ducts  of  the  national  industry.  Sculpture,  architecture,  painting,  and 
music  were  enshrined  in  her  midst.  The  drama,  epic  and  lyric  poetry, 
and  history  found  worthy  interpreters,  names  which  will  live  forever. 
The  palaces  of  the  Spanish  ambassadors  were  in  foreign  countries  the 
resort  of  the  most  elegant  society ;  and  France,  Italy,  England,  and 
Germany  sent  their  youth  to  Madrid  to  acquire  Castilian  manners 
and  politeness. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  Spain,  victorious  over 
the  Moors,  became  the  discoverer  and  mistress  of  the  New  World. 
What  a  magnificent  present !  What  a  glorious  future  !  All  peoples 
looked  to  her  as  first  amongst  the  nations,  and  sovereigns  trembled  at 
her  power. 

What  was  the  condition  of  England  at  the  period  of  the  Reforma 
tion  ?  One-half  of  the  land  was  the  property  of  the  clergy ;  the 
remainder  belonged  to  the  nobility.  Sixty-five  thousand  priests  and 
monks  supported  immense  establishments  by  the  moneys  levied  on 
the  people.  The  land  was  cultivated  to  a  comparatively  small  extent, 
the  gross  agricultural  product  being  under  forty  millions  of  dollars. 
Her  trade  was  small,  compared  to  that  of  many  nations  on  the  conti 
nent,  and  commerce  was  scarcely  known  in  her  ports.  Manufactures 
were  obtained  from  other  countries,  and  education  of  the  people  had 
not  yet  commenced.  Everywhere  feudalism  and  priestcraft  were  tri 
umphant,  and  divided  the  nation  for  their  mutual  benefit. 

England,  under  the  benign  influences  of  the  Reformation,  from 
a  fourth-rate  power,  soon  took  her  station  at  the  head  of  the  nations 
of  the  earth  ;  and  peoples  once  her  superiors  became  dependent  upon 
her  for  protection  and  aid.  Her  ships  whitened  every  sea,  and  her 


ROMANISM   AND    PROTESTANTISM.  151 

drum-beat  greeted  the  rising  sun  around  the  world.  Her  capitalists 
have  covered  Europe  with  railroads,  and  she  has  made  laws  to  mil 
lions  in  Asia.  She  has  her  colonies  in  Africa,  America,  and  a 
rising  empire  in  Australia.  What  the  United  States  are  effecting 
in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  she  is  accomplishing  in  the  Old  World. 

Within  eleven  years,  Spain  effects  the  subjugation  of  Grenada, 
discovers  and  conquers  America,  and  establishes  THE  INQUISITION  ! 
At  the  summit  of  prosperity  in  the  fifteenth  century,  behold  her  in 
the  nineteenth !  See  that  spectacle  of  agony  which  cannot  come  to 
an  end ;  that  all-pervading  confusion  to  which  no  term  can  be 
assigned ;  the  certain  and  progressive  ruin  of  a  nation  that,  for  a 
whole  century,  dictated  laws  to  Europe ;  that  inhabits  the  richest  and 
most  fertile  soil,  perhaps,  under  heaven — but  a  nation  so  disheartened 
that  it  feels  itself  perish,  and  watches  its  own  decline  with  the  resig 
nation  of  a  fatalist ! 

The  clergy  possess  nearly  one-third  of  the  entire  surface  of  Spain. 
As  a  consequence,  one-twelfth  of  the  inhabitants  earn  a  livelihood  by 
smuggling,  robbing,  and  begging;  and  it  has  been  estimated  that 
three  million  Spaniards  wear  no  shirt  from  want  of  money  to  pur 
chase  one.  There  are  forty  classes  of  vagrants,  each  cla^s  with  a 
specific,  recognized  name.  There  is  an  assassination  for  every  four 
thousand  of  the  population.  Education  is  scarcely  known,  and  there 
is  but  one  pupil  to  every  three  hundred  and  fifty  inhabitants.  Internal 
navigation,  agriculture,  and  manufactures  are  at  a  stand-still.  Such 
is  modern  Spain,  once  the  first,  now  the  last  of  nations !  What  is 
the  cause  of  this?  what  the  origin  of  such  utter  misery  and  help 
lessness  ?  Tyranny,  answers  the  politician ;  Romanism,  says  the  Pro 
testant  ;  the  Inquisition,  replies  the  historian.  But  these  three  are 
one.  Tyranny  and  the  Inquisition!  —  foul  offspring  of  blighting 
Romanism ! 

During  the  past  year,  the  Queen  of  Spain  having  presented  to  the 
Pope  a  magnificent  tiara  of  diamonds,  the  Pontiff  returns  an  allocu 
tion  to  the  "Catholic  Sovereign,"  and  the  gift  of  the  body  of  St.  Fe 
lix  !  Thus  has  it  ever  been.  Spain  parts  with  her  wealth  to  Rome, 


152  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

and  receives  iu  return  bones,  putrefaction,  and  rottenness !  But 
Rome  has  borne  sway  there  too  long.  The  Spaniards  are  now  rising 
against  this  frightful  spiritual  and  civil. tyranny;  the  dupes  and  tools 
of  the  priesthood  have  fled  the  country  like  malefactors,  and  the  sov 
ereign  herself  obeys  the  dictates  of  her  subjects.  Rome  is  no  longer 
to  hold  Spain  as  her  property,  to  farm  and  pillage  it  to  benefit  the 
Papal  treasury.  She  has  fattened  on  it  too  long,  and  has  left  it,  poor, 
•weak,  uneducated,  superstitious,  low  in  civilization,  the  prey  of  count 
less  factions.  But  Spain  is  ridding  herself  of  the  cause  of  her  misery- 
may  we  not  hope,  forever  ? 

"We  address  to  the  reader's  conscience  this  twofold  question  :  First, 
is  it  not  true  that  Spain,  favored  with  the  finest  climate,  placed  at  the 
head  of  Europe,  enriched  with  a  world,  but  remaining  Romanist^  has 
continued  to  decline  and  grow  poorer,  sinking  at  last  into  ignorance, 
misery,  and  immorality?  Secondly,  is  it  not  true  that  England, 
with  a  sterile  soil,  a  cloudy  sky,  and  starting  from  the  lowest  rank 
among  European  nations,  but  having  embraced  Protestantism,  is 
now  prosperous,  enlightened, 'moral,  and  at  the  head  of  the  civilized 
world  ? 

We  find  the  relative  influence  of  the  two  creeds  fully  developed  in 
the  Republic  of  Switzerland.  The  Protestant  cantons  are  more  pop 
ulous  than  the  Romanist,  and  carry  on  a  far  greater  trade.  The 
latter  are  obliged  to  keep  many  holidays  besides  Sundays,  and  thus 
agriculture  is  much  neglected.  The  Cantons  of  Zurich,  Basle,  Ge 
neva,  Claris,  and  Neufchatel,  all  Protestant,  are  distinguished  above 
the  rest  for  their  industry  and  manufactures.  The  people  are  not  so 
well  educated  in  the  Romish  as  in  the  other  cantons.  There  are  but 
twenty-two  presses  in  the  former  to  eighty  in  the  latter.  Ten  Protest 
ant  journals  are  printed  to  three  Romanist.  In  the  Papist  cantons, 
ignorance  and  misery  go  hand  in  hand,  and  distress  the  eyes  of  the 
traveller.  The  taste  for  processions,  pilgrimages,  and  other  acts  of 
devotion  introduced  by  the  monks,  has  encouraged  a  spirit  of  idle 
ness  which  is  the  bane  of  trade  and  agriculture,  and  augments  the 

O  O 

numbers  of  tho  poor.     Tn  the  cantons  where  the  peasants  bow  the 


ROMANISM   AND   PROTESTANTISM.  153 

neck  to  the  yoke  of  the  clergy,  men  have  lost  all  their  energy,  all 
elevation  of  mind.  Servile  and  taciturn  as  slaves,  they  have  forgotten 
their  lights,  and  know  nothing  beyond  the  performance  of  a  mechan 
ical  and  unreasoning  obedience.  The  Canton  du  Valais  is  celebrated 
throughout  Europe  for  its  filth,  superstition,  and  wretchedness.  u  Mange 
pas  les  puces  et  les  Pretres"  (eaten  up  by  lice  and  priests),  is  the  pro 
verb  applied  to  its  inhabitants  throughout  Europe.  The  population 
is  behind  the  other  cantons  even  in  regard  to  agricultural  operations 
and  the  management  of  cattle.  They  are  inferior  in  education, 
knowledge,  and  science ;  and  are  specially  idle,  negligent,  and  dirty. 
In  the  villages,  at  every  door  are  seen  horrible  cretins,  sickly,  wretched, 
languishing,  with  an  enormous  head,  lost  in  an  immense  goitre,  their 
faces  swollen  and  livid,  the  eyes  sunk  under  the  thick  and  heavy  lids ; 
the  flabby  cheeks,  the  halt-opened  lips,  with  the  tongue  hanging  out, 
and  a  filthy  saliva  round  it.  Some,  scarcely  covered  with  rags,  lie 
warming  their  limbs  in  the  sun ;  others,  seated  on  the  laps  of  half- 
cretinized  old  women,  resign  their  beards  and  heads  to  their  inspec 
tion,  or  moodily  count  their  beads,  muttering  Aves  and  Pater  Xosters. 
Medical  men  are  decided  that  the  causes  of  this  deformed  idiocy, 
cretinism,  are  moral  as  well  as  physical  ;  the  neglect  of  education 
leads  to  their  imbecility.*  Children  are  left  to  themselves,  and  exist 
like  beasts.  They  wallow  in  the  mire,  seizing  and  devouring  all  they 
find  there.  In  winter  they  pass  whole  days  stretched  in  a  room 
warmed  by  a  stove.  Drunkenness  is  the  prevailing  vice,  and  the 
population  is  universally  superstitious,  insensible  to  their  own  inter 
ests,  intractable  and  obstinate. 

Romanism  had  a  hard  battle  to  fight  in  Germany  at  the  time  of 
the  Reformation.  The  Jforth,  represented  by  Prussia,  became  Pro 
testant  ;  the  South,  under  the  influence  of  Austria,  remained  Ro 
manist.  In  the  latter,  two  powers,  the  government  and  the  clergy, 
have  united  in  working  the  nation  to  their  mutual  advantage.  The 
clergy,  at  first,  strove  to  govern  both  the  people  and  the  nobles ;  but 

*  Eaoul  Eochette,  Vol.  III.  p.  392.    Lautier,  Vol.  II.  p.  204. 


154  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

these  resisted,  and  took  the  place  coveted  by  the  clergy.  The  civil 
power  is  therefore  master,  only  it  reigns  in  the  nation  by  the  means 
and  tutoring  of  the  Church.  A  compromise  exists ;  the  Church  is 
the  instrument,  the  Government  is  the  hand  ;  but  the  instrument  acts 
according  to  its  own  aptitude,  so  that  a  harmonious  concurrence 
exists  between  the  two  powers.  Rome  has  fashioned  Austria,  although 
Rome  obeys  Austria,  and  the  two  forces  have  successfully  enthralled 
the  nation,  by  depriving  it  of  liberty  and  education.  Freedom  of 
thought  does  not  exist :  there  are  twelve  offices  for  the  revision  of 
books,  and  as  many  censors,  at  Vienna,  Prague,  and  Milan.  The 
advance  of  industry  is  stopped  by  an  exaggerated  prohibitive  system ; 
her  commerce  in  nowise  answers  to  the  extent  of  her  monarchy,  and 
her  internal  trade  is  scarcely  half  developed. 

There  is  no  individual  liberty  ;  the  subject  is  a  simple  tenant ;  he 
cannot  be  more.  The  lords  judge  between  their  own  subjects ;  they 
may  even  judge  in  their  own  cause.  Up  to  1846,  except  in  Hungary, 
no  peasant  might  emigrate,  buy,  sell,  make  a  will,  or  marry,  without 
authorization;  he  was,  in  fact,  a  minor,  kept  under  by  perpetual 
legislative  guardianship. 

Gallicia,  a  country  possessing  all  the  elements  of  wealth,  has  re 
mained  barren,  and  frightful  indigence  bears  sway.  In  the  wretched 
and  repulsive-looking  villages,  narrow  huts,  formed  of  branches  of 
trees  rudely  kept  together  with  osier  bands,  and  covered  with  straw 
and  clay,  surround  a  church.  The  other  provinces  of  the  empire  are 
in  similar  condition ;  religion  and  misery  go  hand  in  hand.  There 
is,  as  Ave  before  observed,  no  liberty  of  thought,  no  liberty  of  com 
merce,  no  individual  liberty ;  but  instead,  drudgery  for  the  peasants, 
beating  for  the  soldiers,  humiliation  for  officials,  and  a  villainous  sys 
tem  of  secret  police. 

The  different  professions  are  enrolled  to  serve  as  spies,  as  also  are 
the  hackney-coachmen.  Servants  are  called  upon  to  tell  what  they 
know  of  their  masters  and  households ;  door-keepers,  tradesmen,  and 
clerks  render  the  same  service.  One-half  of  the  people  are  spies 
upon  the  other  half. 


ROMANISM    AND   PROTESTANTISM.  155 

Thanks  to  this  abominable  tyranny  and  vile  superstition,  Austria  is 
falling  daily  in  opinion  ;  the  distrust  and  discontent  which  the  govern 
ment  excites,  germinate  like  fertile  seeds,  and  will  one  day  bear  bitter 
fruits. 

Whilst  Austria  extinguishes  the  light  of  knowledge  and  forbids 
liberty  of  thought,  Prussia,  on  the  contrary,  governs  by  means  of  that 
light  and  liberty. 

Prussia  is  a  state  in  which  instruction  is  very  generally  diffused 
and  watched  over  with  the  greatest  care :  the  number  of  schools  in 
creases  annually.  There  is  no  country  where  science  and  learning 
are  more  encouraged,  or  cultivated  with  greater  success,  and  the  in 
habitants  have  reached  a  high  degree  of  moral  and  intellectual  at 
tainment.  The  government  pays  the  greatest  attention  to  public 
education,  and  the  advancement  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  Freedom 
is  granted  to  all  religious  denominations. 

The  result  of  Luther's  reformation  in  Germany  was  liberty  of 
thought  and  opinion.  No  distinction  was  made  between  theological 
and  philosophical  truth,  and  public  disputations  were  held  on  all 
subjects  without  opposition.  Nowhere  has  the  human  mind  been 
permitted  to  expand  or  express  itself  more  freely  than  in  Northern 
Germany:  Liberty  of  thought  and  Protestantism  are  there  united 
by  strong  ties,  and  German  Philosophy  is  the  daughter  of  the  Ref 
ormation.  The  language  even  has  felt  the  benefit :  Protestants  were 
the  first  to  write  it  with  intelligence,  and  this  pure  style  is,  in  the 
countries  subject  to  Austria,  called  Lutheran  German. 

Agriculture  is  improving,  manufactures  increase,  and  trade  flour 
ishes.  In  fifteen  years,  Prussia  has  expended  a  capital  of  fifty-four 
million  dollars  in  roads  and  railways.  Throughout  the  country, 
beautiful  villages  spring  up  on  every  side  ;  the  houses  are  well  built, 
and  almost  concealed  by  the  thick  covering  of  vine  leaves.  The 
villagers  universally  wear  bright,  happy  countenances,  and  their 
courteous  manners  and  picturesque  costumes  all  bespeak  the  con 
tentment  and  comfort  which  reign  among  them. 

Such  is  Germany.     In  the  South,  Austria  and  her  band  of  Romish 


156  A  VOICE  TO   AMEKICA. 

States  career  in  the  darkness  of  material  despotism,  without  conscious 
ness  of  the  noble  destiny  of  man. 

In  the  North,  Prussia,  and  her  company  of  Protestant  nations, 
blessed  with  increasing  liberty,  bask  in  the  bright  light  of  knowledge, 
in  ceaseless  speculations  after  God  and  immortality. 

Romanist  Belgium  and  Protestant  Holland  having  been  alternately 
united  and  separated,  cannot  be  so  entirely  different  from  one  another 
as  the  countries  we  have  already  compared.  During  the  last  half 
century  alone,  Belgium  has  been  successively  under  the  rule  of  Infi 
del  France,  of  the  Protestant  Netherlands,  and  of  its  own  Roman 
ist  government.  These  powers  have  each  left  an  impression,  and 
thus  have  modified  the  contrast  which  strikes  us  so  forcibly  else 
where. 

In  the  eighteenth  century,  Belgium  passed  under  the  dominion  of 
the  French,  then  much  irritated  against  priestcraft ;  Belgians  must 
in  a  measure  have  shaken  off  the  same  yoke,  and  lost  some  of  their 
prejudices.  If  this  were  not  an  advance  in  good,  it  was  at  least  a 
step  out  of  evil. 

But  it  was  especially  from  1815  to  1830,  un^ler  a  Protestant  gov 
ernment,  that  Belgium  received  abundantly  the  treasures  of  freedom 
and  civilization.  Agricultural  colonies  were  established,  and  flourish 
ed  ;  institutions  for  the  poor  were  founded ;  a  general  increase  of 
population  and  comfort  ensued,  and  commerce  received  a  great 
development. 

The  advantages  on  the  Romanist  side,  as  regards  soil  and  cli 
mate,  are  very  considerably  in  favor  of  Belgium  in  comparison  witli 
Holland.  The  former  has  a  fertile  soil,  generously  endowed  by  na 
ture  ;  a  ray  of  sunshine  covers  it  with  abundant  crops ;  it  possesses 
mines  of  lead,  copper,  iron,  alum,  sulphur  and  calamine,  quarries  of 
marble,  freestone,  limestone,  &c. 

In  Holland,  instead  of  these  natural  riches,  we  find  water !  water 
everywhere.  While  Brussels,  the  capital  of  Belgium,  rests  upon  a 
rock,  'Amsterdam  is  built  in  the  midst  of  the  floods,  on  thirteen  mil 
lion  stakes.  Wh;ii  have  the  IV'Vi:;:!  CViholk-a  <i<.w  with  their  fertile 


ROMAXISM    AND    PROTESTANTISM. 

land  in  comparison  with  what  the  Dutch  Protestants  have  made  of 
their  marshes  ? 

Belgian  agriculture  is,  at  the  present  time,  greatly  below  that  of 
Holland.  Travellers  are  struck  with  the  wisdom  with  which  the 
Dutch  cherish  every  thing  which  tends  to  the  improvement  of  that 
science.  Their  laborers  enjoy  an  amount  of  comfort  which  contrasts 
strongly  with  the  poverty  of  Flanders ;  their  dwellings  are  well  kept, 
their  clothes  are  clean  and  substantial ;  all  things  bespeak  ease  and 
prosperity.  There  are  scarcely  any  paupers  amongst  them,  whilst  in 
Belgium  they  form  a  seventh  of  the  population. 

Since  1830,  educational  and  scientific  institutions  have  greatly 
fallen  off  in  the  latter  country.  What  the  Priosihood  could  not  con 
trol,  they  willingly  allowed  to  decay ;  they  direct,  at  least  partially, 
all  primary  instruction,  not  only  as  to  religion  and  morals,  but  in 
every  branch  of  education.  In  Holland,  they  take  not  the  slightest 
part  in  public  instruction ;  they  do  not  even  visit  the  schools ;  secta 
rianism  is  not  allowed  to  enter,  but  the  master  is  charged  to  teach  his 
pupils  the  rules  of  morality  and  the  truths  of  the  Gospel. 

The  preponderance  of  the  Romish  clergy  in  Belgium  is  a  bad 
omen  for  the  future ;  all  things  coeverge  towards  a  moral  and  intel 
lectual  subjugation :  the  Jesuit  system  of  education  is  greatly  dreaded, 
for  it  aims  at  nothing  less  than  the  extinction  of  ajl  free-will  and 
spontaneous  action.  Belgium  has  greatly  retrograded  since  her  dis 
ruption  with  Holland,  whilst  the  latter  has  steadily  -fkrogressed  in 
freedom  and  civilization. 

Romanists  are  fond  of  citing  France  as  proof  positive  of  the  civil 
izing  influence  of  their  faith :  but  France  is  not  Papal ;  if  she  be 
any  thing  in  ethics,  she  is  Deist.  We  admit  at  the  same  time  that 
some  provinces,  like  Brittany,  for  instance,  are  really  under  the 
influence  of  the  Popish  clergy.  We  shall  compare  these  districts 
with  those  localities  in  which  Protestantism  has  many  adherents. 
The  Huguenots  in  France  were  in  a  similar  position  to  that  of  the 
Irish  Romanists.  Both  were  persecuted  by  their  respective  govern 
ments.  We  know  to  what  depths  of  misery  the  Irish  Papists  sank ; 


158  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

their  neglect  of  agriculture,  their  idleness,  their  frightful  poverty 
Is  the  same  sight  offered  to  us  by  the  equally  persecuted  Protest 
ants?  Gradually  excluded  from  court  employments,  and  from  almost 
all  cJvil  posts,  they  applied  themselves  to  agriculture,  trade,  and  man 
ufactures.  The  vast  plains  they  possessed  in  Beam,  and  the  West 
ern  provinces,  were  covered  with  rich  harvests.  In  Languedoc, 
the  cantons  peopled  by  them  became  the  best  cultivated  and  the 
most  fertile,  often  in  spite  of  the  badness  of  the  soil.  In  Guyenne, 
they  took  possession  of  almost  the  whole  wine  trade.  In  the  two 
governments  of  Brouage  and  Oleron,  a  dozen  Protestant  families  had 
the  monopoly  of  the  trade  in  salt  and  wine.  The  wealth  of  Alenpon 
passed  through  their  hands;  and  the  Protestants  of  Rouen  carried  on 
an  immense  commerce,  especially  with  the  Dutch.  Those  of  Caen 
sold  to  the  English  and  Dutch  merchants  the  linen  and  woollen  cloths 
manufactured  in  Normandy.  It  is  to  the  Protestants  that  France 
owes  her  commerce  at  Bordeaux,  La  Rochelle,  and  the  Norman  ports. 
In  fine,  nearly  all  the  silk,  cotton,  linen,  and  paper  manufactures  were 
supported  by  them,  arid  their  tanneries  in  Touraine  were  renowned 
throughout  the  whole  of  Europe. 

This  magnificent  prosperity  was  annihilated  by  Romanism  at  the 
Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  England,  Holland,  Germany, 
and  Denmark  all  received  the  flying  Huguenots.  The  American 
colonies  were  largely  benefited  by  the  refugees.  The  uncultivated 
banks  of  tJ*e*  James  River  were  by  them  transformed  into  fields 
covered  with  rich  harvests.  All  Virginia  admired  the  flourishing 
state  .of  their  model  farms  in  the  environs  of  Mannikin.  In  the 
State  of  New  York,  the  founders  of  New  La  Rochelle,  recoiled  from 
no  fatigue  that  might  render  productive  the  virgin  land  on  the  shores 
of  the  East  River.  Men,  women,  and  children  unceasingly  labored 
until  they  converted  a  wilderness  into  a  smiling  landscape ;  and  in 
South  Carolina  they  reared  magnificent  plantations  on  the  banks  of 
the  Cooper.  The  agricultural  colony  on  the  banks  of  the  Santee  sur 
passed  all  others  in  the  same  province,  although  the  refugees  were 
unaccustomed  to  that  kind  of  labor. 


ROMANISM    AND   PROTESTANTISM.  159 

The  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  in  1685,  had  its  reaction 
in  the  fearful  atrocities  of  the  French  Revolution  of  1792.  But  a 
great  Protestant  element  exists  still  in  France,  and  we  can  compare 
their  comparative  prosperity  with  that  of  the  Romanists.  In  Paris, 
the  average  personal  tax  paid  by  all  the  inhabitants  is  six  dollars  and 
twelve  cents ;  the  average  paid  by  the  Protestants  is  seventeen  dol 
lars  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  fortunes  of  the  Paris  Protestants  are,  at  the 
present  time,  nearly  three  times  that  of  their  Romanist  country 
men.  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  France,  the  Protest 
ant  departments  are  the  most  industrious,  most  wealthy,  and  pay  the 
highest  taxes  to  the  government.  The  six  departments  which  sup 
ply  the  primary  schools  with  the  largest  amount  of  pupils,  are  those 
containing  the  largest  number  of  Protestants.  The  six  departments 
numbering  the  smallest  number  of  pupils  are  precisely  those  which 
are  exclusively  Romanist  populations. 

The  Reformed  Faith  is  making  progress  throughout  France.  At 
the  same  time,  we  must  not  ignore  the  fact  that  in  many  parts  of  the 
country  Romanism  is  very  powerful,  especially  with  the  court.  Ser 
vices  rendered  necessarily  demand  favors  in  return.  Hence  the  decree 
placing  education  in  the  hands  of  the  priests.  The  occupation  of 
Rome  is  oftTtimes  cited  as  a  proof  of  Gallican  support  of  the  Holy 
See,  but  there  were  far  too  grave  political  reasons  to  prompt  such  a 
procedure  for  us  to  suppose  that  the  French  Government  was,  and  is 
guided  by  mere  faith,  or  reverence  for  a  system  which  the  Napoleons 
have  always  made  subservient  to  their  own  purposes.  As  a  nation, 
France  is  simply  Deist ;  and  to  this  state  has  she  been  reduced  by 
centuries  of  priestly  domination  and  Romish  superstition. 

In  no  country  do  the  effects  of  Romanism  and  Protestantism  so 
strike  the  observer  as  in  Ireland.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  fruitful 
South  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  former,  and  the  Reformation  dis 
plays  its  power  in  the  comparatively  barren  North.  The  effect  upon 
the  Irish  of  the  bad  direction  which  the  priest  gives  to  their  minds, 
is  a  prostration  of  their  moral  force,  annihilating  all  their  intellectual 
faculties,  and  blunting  even  the  consciousness  of  misfortune  and  desire 


160  A   VOICE    TO   AMERICA. 

t 

to  put  an  end  to  it,  Ireland  is  peopled  with  poor ;  mendicity  seems 
almost  the  national  characteristic.  The  Irish  beggars  are  the  Lazza- 
•I'oui  of  England. 

The  Romish  population  of  Ireland  live  in  huts,  the  walls  of  which 
are  made  of  mud  and  flints,  or  of  old  and  almost  rotten  planks ;  the 
roof  is  composed  of  a  layer  of  clods,  spread  over  the  laths.  Gen 
erally,  no  windows  are  to  be  seen.  Light  enters  only  by  means  of  the 
door,  or  a  hole  made  in  the  roof,  which  serves  as  a  chimney.  In  this 
same  damp  shed  live,  pell-mell,  two,  three,  and  sometimes  four  gen 
erations  of  human  beings.  The  sow  seems  a  member  of  the  family — 
lying  in  the  corner,  surrounded  and  petted  by  the  children.  In  these 
miserable  abodes  tho  Irkh  Romanists  pass  their  lives,  except  when 
engaged  in  agrarian  outrage,  or  resistance  10  the  laws  of  the  land.  For 
centuries  have  they  existed  in  this  manner;  and  when  patriotic  indi 
viduals  attempt  a  reformation  of  so  horrible  a  state  of  things, the  plies' s 
denounce  the  philanthropists  from  the  altar,  and  cause  their  deluded 
congregations  to  lie  in  wait  to  assassinate  them.  Such  is  Papal  Ireland ! 

The  Irish  of  the  North,  living  under  the  same  laws,  "tyrannized  (?) 
over  by  the  same  government,"  show  exactly  a  contrary  picture.  They 
devote  themselves  to  manufactures  and  trade,  and  their  linens  surpass 
all  others.  The  growth  and  manufacture  of  flax  was  commenced  by 
Protestants,  and  has  been  maintained  by  them  ever  since.  Belfast  is 
a  remarkable  example  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Protestant  towns  of 
the  North.  There  are  special  hospitals  for  the  blind,  deaf  and  dumb, 
fever  patients,  lunatics,  the  feeble ;  with  asylums  for  penitent  girls,  lib 
erated  convicts,  domestics  out  of  place,  and  women  out  of  work. 
There  are  sixteen  Protestant  chapels  to  two  Romanist ;  and  the 
inhabitants  are  almost  all  Protestants,  and  merchants.  The  houses 
are  well  built,  large,  and  convenient.  Lovely  villages  are  scattered 
through  the  country,  well-built  cottages  stand  in  the  midst  of  gardens 
profuse  in  flowers,  the  inhabitants  are  well  dressed,  and  an  air  or'  con 
tentment  and  happiness  pervades  every  thing. 

As  it  is  in  prosperity,  so  is  it  in  education  and  morality.  Three- 
fourths  of  the  criminals  of  Ireland  are  Romanists,  and  education  is 


ROMANISM   AND   PROTESTANTISM.  161  , 

scarcely  known  among  them.  In  order  to  remedy  such  a  frightful 
state  of  crime  and  ignorance,  the  English  Government  has  lately  estab 
lished  schools  and  colleges,  where  religion  as  a  study  is  rigorously 
excluded ;  thus  endeavoring  to  supply  the  wants  of  a  mixed  popu 
lation,  and  eventually  end  sectarianism.  Rome  anathematizes  these 
institutions,  naming  them  the  "  Godless  colleges,"  and  denounces  from 
the  altar  those  enlightened  parents  who  permit  their  children  to  fre 
quent  them. 

There  is  not  an  election  in  which  we  do  not  find  instances  of  priests 
threatening  from  the  altar  those  who  voted  for  a  Protestant  candidate. 
The  fearful  riots  which  result  from  this  interference  are  only  quelled 
by  the  intervention  of  an  armed  force.  Everywhere  the  Romanists 
are  deficient  in  knowledge  and  wealth.  They  are  the  uneducated, 
the  miserable,  the  servants  of  their  own  land.  In  short,  turn  where 
you  will,  the  result  is  the  same.  The  difference  between  Romanism 
and  Protestantism  is  known  by  the  appearance  of  every  parish,  every 
village,  every  house  and  cottage  in  the  land. 

Italy  !  Italy  !  Mistress  of  the  World !  the  glory  of  Europe  !  She 
had  decked  herself  with  the  master-works  of  the  human  mind,  like 
a  queen  adorning  her  brow.  Michael  Angelo  was  her  architect; 
Raphael,  Titian,  and  Da  Vinci  were  her  painters;  Dante,  Petrarch,  and 
Ariosto  sang  her  praises.  For  her,  Genoa  and  Venice  unladed  their 
rich  argosies ;  emperors  and  kings  were  her  willing  vassals.  Italy, 
possessing  in  her  bosom  the  Infallible  Head  of  the  Church ;  Italy, 
enjoying  the  pure  influence  of  Romanism,  and  never  suffering  from 
heresy, — surely  Italy  must  give  high  proofs  of  the  blessed  influence 
of  the  Papacy;  but  the  Eternal  City!  Imperial  Rome  !  is  in  ruins ! 
Half  her  streets  are  deserted  ;  wretchedness  and  filth  reign  triumph 
antly.  The  glory  of  the  City  of  the  Sea,  Venice,  is  gone ;  Genoa  is 
fallen  ;  Florence  is  in  tears !  Italians  are  distracted  and  desolate,  the 
prey  of  ever-changing  tyrants  ! 

It  is  to  Popery  alone  we  must  attribute  the  shame  of  the  actual 
state  of  Italy.  It  is  the  work,  the  legitimate  offspring,  the  exclusive 
pupil  of  the  Papal  power.  Whatever  Popery  is  able  to  accomplish, 


162  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

has  been  accomplished  in  Italy.  No  opposition  has  been  offered 
there.  On  the  contrary,  Popery  has  been  enthroned  ;  princes  and 
people  have  bowed  before  it,  as  an  idol ;  and  the  Head  of  Roman 
ism,  armed  with  a  triple  tiara,  held  as  infallible.  The  Roman  Cai- 
phas,  accepted  as  vice-God,  has  prepared  and  consummated  this 
tremendous  ruin. 

But  there  is  a  bright  ray  of  hope  for  this  glorious  country  of  the 
past.  Sardinia  is  waking  up  to  liberty,  and  manfully  striding  on  in 
the  road  to  freedom.  Rome  is  in  agony ;  her  ministers  fume,  her 
Pontiff  threatens  excommunication  and  interdict.  But  bravely  do 
Sardinia's  king  and  people  bear  such  Middle-Age  threats ;  and  the 
secularization  of  the  property  of  the  Church,  the-  appointment  of 
bishops  by  the  government,  the  annihilation  of  the  monasteries,  all 
go  bravely  on.  Italy's  salvation  is  in  the  North  ;  and  we  trust  ere 
long  to  see  a  magnificent  empire  rising  up,  embracing  Sardinia,  Lom- 
bardy,  and  the  lesser  States,  and  setting  free  the  city  of  Ricnzi — 
Eternal  Rome  herself. 

But  in  order  to  appreciate  the  struggle  between  modern  Romanism 
and  Protestantism,  we  must  leave  Europe.  Here  they  are  both  em 
barrassed  in  their  movements  by  too  many  old  established  customs 
and  prejudices.  Providence  has  given  them  a  vast  arena,  where  each, 
being  surrounded  by  its  own  deeds,  will  be  judged  by  them  alone. 
The  Church  of  Rome  and  the  Reformation  have  each,  in  America,  a 
world  in  which  to  try  their  civilizing  power, — a  duel  which  has  hea 
ven  and  earth  for  witnesses.  America  is  a  country  of  the  future.  She 
is  a  virgin,  fertile,  and  extensive  land.  She  has  not,  by  degrading 
laws,  closed  the  doors  upon  truth.  Neither  has  she  proscribed  error ; 
all  forms,  religions,  governments,  are  admitted.  Truth,  eternal  truth, 
will  alone  prevail. 

A  magnificent  armament,  under  the  banners  of  imperial  Spain, 
arrives  in  South  America.  The  strength  and  chivalry  of  Europe  land 
amidst  wondering  spectators.  They  march  from  victory  to  victory. 
Untold  treasures  fill  the  coffers  of  the  Church.  Rome,  in  intoxica 
tion,  sings  countless  Te  Deums. 


ROMANISM   AXD   PROTESTANTISM.  163 

A.  few  men  land,  one  by  one,  on  the  shores  of  North  America  ; 
poor,  humble,  and  unknown.  They  bring  with  them  but  one  book — 
the  Bible.  They  open  it  on  the  strand  ;  and  begin  forthwith  to  build 
up  the  new  city,  on  the  plan  of  the  book  recovered  by  Luther. 

Hearken  to  the  sound  of  the  axe.  The  emigrant  fells  the  primeval 
oak  in  the  virgin  forests ;  the  sweat  inundates  his  brow.  With  toil 
and  trouble  he  builds  an  unknown  hut,  near  a  running  stream.  The 
traveller  scarce  deigns  to  turn  his  head  towards  this  humble  dwelling, 
where  the  noise  of  the  axe  and  hammer  mingles  with  the  chant  of  a 
psalm.  But  if,  a  few  years  later,  he  pass  again  by  the  same  spot,  he 
sees,  by  a  sort  of  social  miracle,  in  the  place  of  the  hut,  a  mighty  em 
pire  rising  from  the  earth.  The  poor  emigrant  has  conquered  a  world  ! 

In  this  immense  arena  the  lists  are  opened  between  two  religions. 
The  doctrines  of  the  Council  of  Trent  have  received,  for  the  display  of 
their  strength,  South  America.  -There  the  founders  are  not  isolated 
individuals,  but  on  the  contrary,  according  to  Romanist  principles,  an 
association  already  formed.  A  powerful  empire,  with  all  its  resources, 
comes  to  take  possession  of  the  soil.  Rich  valleys  and  fertile  plains 
seem  to  demand  the  living  energy  which  would  give  birth  to  new 
empires.  In  order  that  the  trial  may  be  more  decisive,  Romanism 
alone  is  allowed  to  approach  these  shores.  The  civilization  of  the 
natives,  which  might  have  embarrassed  her  actions,  disappears.  Noth 
ing  remains  but  mighty  nature,  who,  in  her  solitude,  invites  man  to 
crown  her  with  vast  ideas,  projects,  innovations,  kingdoms,  gigantic 
as  herself.  But  man  remains  motionless,  bound  by  an  invisible  force. 

Throughout  the  entire  continent  of  South  America,  it  is  impossible 
to  enforce  the  observance  of  the  most  simple  law  or  police  regulation. 
The  insolence  of  the  inhabitants  renders  them  hostile  to  every  kind  of 
control.  Morals  are  in  a  state  that  makes  us  blush  for  humanity; 
manufactures  are  scarcely  known ;  commerce  languishes,  or  is  in  the 
hands  of  foreigners ;  society  is  utterly  demoralized,  and  anarchy  reigns 
supreme.  From  the  Isthmus  to  the  Horn,  w_here.ver  Rome  has  planted 
her  Faith,  civilization,. flies.  Revolution  succeeds  revolution,  but  no 
good  results  from  the  change.  South  America  is  one  vast  moral 


164:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

charnel-house.  Mexico,  even,  which  should  receive  some  beneficial 
influence  from  the  neighboring  states,  is  paralyzed  by  the  priesthood^ 
in  alliance  with  despotism.  Cuba,  the  brightest  jewel  in  the  bosom  of 
ocean,  for  which  nature  has  done  so  much  and*  man  so  little,  is  ground 
down  and  cursed  by  this  overwhelming  spiritual  tyranny.  Priestcraft 
pillages  her,  and  military  despots  put  her  to  death.  Rome,  wherever 
supreme,  reduces  society  to  chaos. 

What  a  magnificent  contrast  in  the  Protestant  North !  Forests 
have  given  place  to  fruitful  fields ;  cities  spring  up  on  every  side ; 
railroads  stretch  to  remotest  points ;  commerce  brings  to  her  the 
wealth  of  the  old  world;  Science  bridges  her  rivers,  works  her  roads 
and  canals ;  the  Arts  enshrine  themselves  in  her  midst ;  and  Litera 
ture  carries  her  glory  into  far-distant  climes.  Her  Faith  and  her 
Progress  are  one  and  inseparable ;  the  dignity  and  independence  of 
man,  his  self-reliance,  have  wrought  this.  Protestantism  settled  her 
finest  States — it  breathes  through  and  animates  her  constitution ;  her 
forefathers  were  the  everlasting  enemies  of  Rome  and  tyranny.  In 
stead  of  ignorance,  we  find  education  more  diffused  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world ;  a  school  is  as  necessary  to  a  village  as  houses ; 
and  every  succeeding  year  strives  to  surpass  the  last  in  improving  in 
struction. 

The  mind  fails  to  grasp  the  FUTURE  of  such  a  people.  When  we 
see  the  progress  accomplished  in  so  short  a  period ;  plenty  every 
where  and  misery  nowhere ;  churches,  schools,  towns,  manufactories, 
rising  on  all  sides,  as  if  by  enchantment ;  forests  cleared  away  almost 
as  soon  as  discovered  ;  a  hardy  population,  active,  persevering,  eager 
for  knowledge,  and  ever  advancing,  we  are  almost  tempted  to  give 
history  the  lie,  when  we  think  how  much  has  been  done  in  so  short  a 
time. 

Romanism,  opposed  to  all  social  and  commercial  progress,  is  de 
fended  by  its  subjects  with  the  specious  remark  that  the  change  proves 
nothing  against  the  Church,  because  man  is  not  made  for  this  world, 
and,  therefore,  it  makes  but  little  difference  whether  he  be  free,  hap 
py,  prosperous,  or  otherwise,  so  long  as  he  is  an  acceptable  mem- 


KOMAN'ISM   AXD   PROTESTANTISM.  165 

ber  of  the  Papal  communion.  This  is  the  favorite  argument  to  make 
tlio  Irish  people  contented  with  the  misery  they  suffer  by  the  priest- 
ridden  degradation  in  their  native  land.  Another  class  of  the  defenders 
of  the  Papacy  admit  the  commercial  and  social  degradation  of  Papal 
nations,  but  assert  that  their  decline  in  temporal  prosperity  is  due  to  the 
change  of  the  great  routes  of  navigation.  It  is  true  that  America  and 
England  obtained  access  to  the  East  Indies  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  but  this  route  is,  and  was,  open  to  Spain,  Portugal,  and  all  Ro 
manist  countries.  No  recent  discoveries  have  altered  the  route  to 
South  America ;  nearly  the  whole  of  that  trade  was  hers,  for  her  col 
onies,  eleven  times  the  area  of  the  mother  country,  were  equal  to  In 
dia  in  fertility ;  rivers  were  more  numerous  and  mineral  productions 
far  superior.  England,  and  in  fact  the  whole  of  Europe,  could  never 
reach  the  South  American  Continent  as  quickly  as  Spain,  for  the  north 
east  trade-winds  were  in  her  favor,  and  those  nations  would  always  be 
compelled  to  take  a  southern  course  to  reach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Portugal  and  Spain  obtained  a  vast  continent,  besides  possessions  in 
the  West  Indies  and  North  America.  No  change  in  navigation  could 
possibly  affect  the  development  of  these  immense  acquisitions ;  but, 
as  we  have  seen,  ill  government  and  superstition  have  left  them  a 
wilderness,  and  the  very  name  of  Spain  an  execration. 

But  granting,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  the  carrying  trade  has 
been  transferred,  surely  the  loss  of  commerce  cannot  have  plunged 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy  into  such  moral  debasement  atid  political 
annihilation  as  they  are  now  suffering.  The  asserters  of  so  monstrous 
a  proposition  would  make  us  believe  that  no  country  can  prosper  with 
out  commerce,  which  is  palpably  ridiculous.  But  if  their  argument 
be  correct,  why  should  Protestant  Holland  differ  so  materially  from 
the  above-mentioned  countries  ?  She  has  lost  the  greater  part  of  her 
commerce  and  colonies,  yet  we  see  no  such  moral  debasement,  no  such 
reducing  of  man  to  the  level  of  the  brute  as  we  find  with  them. 

Protestantism  found  the  world  in  medieval  barbarism ;  feudalism 
and  tyranny  triumphant ;  mankind  in  slavery  and  ignorance.  She 
has  disenthralled  the  people,  blessed  them  with  literature  and  science, 


166  A  VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

raised  thorn  to  the  virtue  and  dignity  of  MEN.  Under  her  benign 
auspices  they  have  learned  the  blessings  of  liberty,  the  charms  of  in 
tellect,  the  triumphs  of  free  government.  She  has  given  them  a 
world,  and  taught  them  how,  from  a  primeval  forest,  to  carve  out  the 
glories  of  a  rising  empire,  the  terror  of  despotism,  the  star  of  hope  to 
all  nations.  She  has  burst  the  barriers  of  three  thousand  years,  and 
opened  China  to  commerce  and  the  West.  She  has  forced  Japan  to 
.obey  her  behests,  and  carried  her  faith  into  the  polar  zone.  She  has 
invented  railroads,  telegraphs,  steam-engines,  and  countless  appliances 
to  benefit  humanity.  Her  myriad  presses  carry  heaven-born  thought 
into  far-off  climes;  she  commands  the  ocean,  and  commerce  is  obe 
dient  to  her.  Man,  disenchained  man,  stands  forth  as  sovereign  of 
the  universe,  a  being  after  the  image  of  God. 


THE  RIGHTS  OF  CONSCIENCE 


<l  The  small  voice  within 

Heard  through  gain's  silence,  and  o'er  glory's  din  : 
Whatever  creed  be  taught,  or  land  be  trod, 
Man's  conscience  is  the  oracle  of  God." 


THE  American  mind  declares  itself  in  favor  of  the  right  of  every 
man  to  worship  God  after  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience.  It 
acts  upon  the  constitutional  dictation,  that  "  no  religious  test  shall 
ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public  trust  under 
the  United  States."  That  in  the  first  article  of  the  Amendments  of 
the  Constitution  it  is  declared,  "  that  Congress  shall  make  no  law 
respecting  an  establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exer 
cise  thereof."  Leaving  ev^ry  individual  free  to  establish  his  own 
standard  of  qualification,  and  to  vote  for  or  against  those  who  hold 
certain  religious  principles,  or  political  views,  as  each  one  may  see 
right  in  his  own  eyes.  The  war  the  American  mind  wages  is  for  the 
freedom  of  religious  opinion  ;  it  only  opposes  the  tyranny  of  priest 
craft  —  a  tyranny  which  educates  its  slaves  that  the  Church  is  infal 
lible,  superior  in  authority  to  the  civil  power,  and  that  unquestioned 
obedience  is  the  highest  duty  of  the  layman.  The  American  mind 
demands  that  the  people  of  this  country,  whether  native  or  alien,  be 
brought  to  consider  principalities  and  powers  as  entitled  to  consider 
ation,  only  as  they  are  creations  of  the  Constitution  and  the  laws. 
That  they  be  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  independence,  and  regard  the 
principle  of  equality  as  an  article  of  living  political  ftlth  ;  that  they 
obey  no  authority,  recognize  no  titles,  save  those  which  emanate  from 
the  civil  power  ;  that  they  admit  no  right  to  command  on  the  part 


168  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

of  any  Church,  and  no  duty  of  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  laity ; 
that  they  see  no  peculiar  sanctity  in  priestly  robes,  unless  accom 
panied  by  the  superior  sanctity  of  those  who  wear  them  ;  that  all 
deference  to  Church  dignitaries  is  but  the  voluntary  homage  of  the 
heart  to  exalted  virtue ;  that  there  is  no  divinity  hedging  in  a  king, 
and  a  mitred  bishop,  even  of  the  See  of  Rome,  is  but  a  man,  entitled 
to  respect  only  as  a  man,  and  to  extraordinary  consideration,  only  as 
^his  Christian  graces  shine  with  a  lustre  superior  to  those  of  common 
men. 

The  Pope  of  Rome  claims  to  be  the  vicegerent  of  God,  and  infalli 
ble  ;  that  all  power  on  earth,  spiritual  and  temporal,  is  given  him  by 
Divine  appointment ;  that  all  countries  and  governments  belong  to 
him,  and  are  either  subject  to  his  will  and  command,  or  in  a  state  of 
criminal  rebellion ;  that  all  authority  in  Church  and  State  which 
does  not  profess  to  be  under  him,  and  act  in  strict  conformity  to  his 
commands,  is  unlawful  and  wicked ;  that  all  religious  opinions  differ 
ent  from  the  dogmas  of  the  Romish  Church  are  heretical,  and  that 
those  who  profess  them  are  heretics  with  whom  no  faith  should  be 
kept,  whether  plighted  by  contract  or  by  oath ;  that  it  is  the  highest 
duty  of  all  Romanists  to  extirpate  this  heresy  and  these  heretics  by 
sword,  fire,  and  fagot ;  and  by  the  same  means  to  bring  the  poli 
tical  authorities  to  submit  to  the  Pope  in  all  things,  and  every  human 
being  to  profess,  and  conform  to  the  Romish  faith ;  and  to  these  ends 
they  intend  to  devote  their  time,  their  labor,  their  energies  and 
powers,  and  even  expend  their  lives,  which  would  be  glorious  martyr 
dom.  It  is  because  of  the  entertainment  of  such  a  belief  that  Ro 
manism  is  opposed,  and  the  influence  of  foreigners,  who  blindly  and 
passively  consent  to  such  doctrines,  dreaded ;  for  all  modern  history 
teaches  us,  that  the  fairest  portions  of  the  earth  have  been  ravaged 
with  fire  and  sword  to  sustain  these  monstrous  doctrines  of  a  religio- 
political  institution. 

It  is  true,  tliat  Romanism  lias  not  attempted  for  many  years,  save 
in  its  recent  manifestoes  against  Sardinia,  to  assert  its  political  and 
temporal  power  outside  of  (lie  Papnl  dominions;  but  still,  in  its  con- 


THE   EIGHTS  OF   CONSCIENCE.  169 

stitution  and  principles,  it  adheres  to  these  and  all  its  other  assumed 
powers.  It  has  renounced  none,  nor  will  it  do  so.  None  of  her 
exemplary  children  repudiate  any  of  them,  and  if  they  did,  they  would 
be  brought  to  recant  by  priestly  visitation,  or  else  have  the  spiritual 
thunder  of  excommunication  denounced  against  them.  For  no  higher 
offence  than  simply  refusing  to  violate  the  most  sacred  enactments 
regarding  church  property  existing  in  the  State  of  New  York,  the 
trustees  of  the  church  of  St.  Louis,  Buffalo,  and  its  entire  congrega 
tion,  were  placed  under  ban.  The  Bishop  of  the  diocese  published 
the  pains  of  excommunication  against  them,  and  held  their  names  up 
to  infamy  and  reproach.  The  marriage  sacrament  was  refused,  and 
the  priest  forbidden  to  minister  at  the  altars. 

The  assertion  of  the  full  extent  of  the  assumed  power  by  the  Papal 
Church  only  slumbers,  because  the  condition  of  human  affaire — the 
light,  liberty,  and  moral  power  of  the  world,  will  not  suffer  it  to  be 
put  into  execution.  It  is  not  the  advance  and  elevation  of  principle, 
of  morals,  and  Christian  charity  in  that  Church,  and  among  its  priest 
hood,  which  has  purified  it  for  the  time  being  of  these  enormities. 
Let  the  state  of  the  world  favor  it,  and  other  Gregorys  and  Innocents 
would  arise  to  enforce  the  powers  of  the  Papacy  in  their  utmost  am 
plitude,  and  their  most  inexorable  spirit.  She  believes  that  she  is  to 
be  coeval  with  man,  and  ultimately  to  have  his  whole  and  perfect 
obedience.  She  has  seen  the  great  flux  and  reflux  of  her  authority 
through  many  centuries,  and  she  is  looking  forward  patiently  through 
other  centuries  in  confidence,  when  her  strength  in  full  tide  is  to  come 
to  her  again.  Ever  watchful,  the  priesthood,  for  whom  mainly  this 
wonderful  edifice  has  been  constructed,  and  been  progressing  to  per 
fection  in  its  way  for  fifty  generations,  will  patiently  bide  their  time ; 
and  when  it  comes,  if  come,  it  ever  does,  they  will  move  with  a  policy, 
a  courage,  and  a  perseverance  to  command  success ;  and  the  grandest 
and  most  awe-inspiring  scenes  of  the  Papal  drama  will  be  'again  re- 
enacted  on  the  theatre  of  the  world. 

But  whether  it  is  the  destiny  of  man  to  revolve  back  to  Papal 
supremacy  in  all  his  affairs  or  not,  that  is  the  consummation  to  which 


170  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

the  whole  priesthood  devote  themselves,  their  time,  their  energies, 
and  their  lives.  That  is  their  one  great  object;  compensating  and 
supplying  the  subjects  of  their  affections,  hopes,  and  ambitions ; 
taking  the  place  of  wife,  children,  friends,  and  country ;  wealth,  so 
cial  position,  station,  honors,  fame,  and  distinction  in  the  arts,  sciences, 
politics,  and  war.  This  ascendency,  now  partially  lost,  is  their  glorious 
tradition,  and  to  regain  it  is  the  permanent,  immutable,  ever-present 
policy  of  the  Papacy  in  all  its  parts.  That  the  Pope  is  a  hierarch, 
and  they  a  portion  of  the  hierarchy,  is  a  part  of  the  education,  mind, 
soul,  and  personal  identity  of  every  member  of  the  priesthood ;  and 
not  less  so,  that  the  business  and  ends  of  their  lives  and  labors  is  to 
expend  themselves  according  to  times  and  circumstances,  for  the 
restoration  of  the  authority  and  splendor  of  both ;  and  never  to  be 
disheartened  or  discouraged,  whether  or  not  there  be  any  perceivable 
result.  These  are  objects  for  which,  in  this  country,  the  foreign 
priests  especially  labor.  They  summon  every  Papist,  upon  his  reach 
ing  our  shores,  to  his  fealty,  and  hold  them  united  and  faithful  to 
their  religion,  their  priest,  and  their  sovereign  hierarch.  They  get 
possession  of  all  the  children  they  can,  by  means  of  schools,  and  their 
parents,  where  even  but  one  of  them  is  a  Romanist,  and  they  attend 
and  keep  these  children  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 

The  dying  find  it  to  the  interest  of  their  eternal  welfare  to  give  the 
Church  liberally  of  their  worldly  treasure  ;  and  thus  in  every  country 
it  absorbs  within  its  coffers  a  large  share  of  the  wealth  of  its  devoted 
congregations.  With  signal  flexibility  and  cunning  it  has  addressed 
itself  to  the  ruling  power,  and  paid  it  court  adulation,  or  used  other 
means  to  win  it ;  and  when  won,  it  may  do  what  it  will,  on  condition 
that  it  becomes  subservient  to  the  peculiar  views  of  this  priesthood 
and  its  hierarchy.  They  know  that  in  our  country  the  main-spring 
of  political  power  is  the  ballot-box,  and  the  object  of  their  unceasing 
efforts  is  there  to  collect  and  consolidate  strength.  The  members  of 
all  other  sects  divide  in  their  politics  and  votes,  but  foreign  Romanists 
never,  and  the  priest  thus  has  in  his  hands  their  absolute  will,  and  it 
becomes  a  matter  of  calculation  how  this  tremendous  engine  of  power 


THE   RIGHTS   OF   CONSCIENCE.  171 

can  best  be  used  to  build  up,  not  the  interests  of  America  nor  the 
happiness  of  the  people,  but  the  ever-absorbing  pretensions  of  the 
Papal  Church. 

The  possession  of  this  voting  power  is  denied,  and  so  is  eveiy 
working  principle  of  the  Church  denied,  where  a  frank  acknowledg 
ment  would  operate  against  its  interests ;  but  the  fact  that  our  most 
unscrupulous  office-seekers  are  constantly  paying  court  to  the  priests, 
and  in  every  possible  way  endeavoring  to  build  up  the  interests  of 
their  Church,  tells  its  own  tale,  for  where  the  carcass  is,  there  will  be 
the  buzzards  also,  and  where  there  are  votes  to  be  purchased,  there 
will  be  the  demagogue  and  the  trading  politician. 

But  the  organs  of  the  Papacy  printed  among  us,  occasionally  thrown 
off  their  guard  by  some  unexpected  success,  sometimes  let  us  into 
their  plans  and  future  aspirations.  We  occasionally  have  the  boldest 
avowals  of  the  intention  of  usurping  our  government,  of  destroying 
our  liberties,  and  shaping  every  thing  to  the  standard  of  priestly  am 
bition.  Denying,  as  all  true  Americans  do,  the  Divine  right  of  any 
human  being  to  govern,  the  chief  organ  of  Romanism  therefore  ridi 
cules  the  permanency  of  our  institutions,  and  breaks  out  in  the  fol 
lowing  rhapsody : — 

"  Are  your  free  institutions  infallible  ?  Are  they  founded  on  Divine 
right  ?  This  you  deny.  Is  not  the  proper  question  for  you  to  discuss, 
then,  not  whether  Papacy  be  or  be  not  compatible  with  Republican 
government,  but  whether  it  be  or  be  not  founded  in  Divine  right  ? 
If  the  Papacy  be  founded  in  Divine  right,  it  is  supreme  over  what 
ever  be  founded  only  in  human  right,  and  then  your  institutions 
should  be  made  to  harmonize  with  it,  and  not  it  with  your  institu 
tions.  The  real  question  then  is,  not  the  compatibility  or  incompati 
bility  of  the  Catholic  Church  with  democratic  institutions,  but  is  the 
Catholic  Church  the  Church  of  God  ?  Settle  this  question  first.  But 
in  point  of  fact,  democracy  is  a  mischievous  dream,  wherever  the 
Catholic  Church  does  not  predominate,  to  inspire  the  people  with 
reverence,  and  to  teach  and  accustom  them  to  obedience  and  au 
thority.  The  first  lesson  for  all  to  learn,  the  last  that  should  be  for- 


172  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

gotten,  is — to  obey.  You  can  have  no  government  where  there  is 
no  obedience  ;  and  obedience  to  law,  as  it  is  called,  will  not  be  long 
enforced,  where  the  fallibility  of  law  is  clearly  seen  and  freely  admit 
ted.  But  is  it  the  intention  of  the  Pope  to  possess  this  country  ? 
Undoubtedly.  In  this  intention  he  is  aided  by  the  Jesuits,  and  all 
the  Catholic  prelates  and  priests.  That  the  policy  of  the  Church  is 
dreaded  and  opposed  by  all  Protestants,  infidels,  demagogues,  tyrants, 
and  oppressors,  is  also  unquestionably  true.  Save  then,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  our  civil  duties,  and  in  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  there  is, 
and  can  be  no  harmony  between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants."* 

."The  time  has  come  when  Catholics  must  begin  to  make  their 
principles  tell  upon  the  public  sentiment  of  the  country.  Heretofore 
we  have  taken  our  politics  from  one  or  another  of  the  parties  which 
divide  the  country,  and  have  suffered,  the  enemies  of  our  religion  to 
impose  their  political  doctrines  upon  us ;  but  it  is  time  for  us  to  begin 
to  teach  the  country  itself  those  moral  and  political  doctrines  which 
flow  from  the  teachings  of  our  own  Church.  We  are  at  home  here, 
wherever  we  may  have  been  born ;  this  is  our  country,  and  as  it  is 
to  become  thoroughly  Catholic,  we  have  a  deeper  interest  in  public 
affairs  than  any  other  of  our  citizens.  The  sects  are  only  for  a  day ; 
the  Church  forever.  We  care  little  how  the  elections  go,  for  that  is 
-a  small  affair;  but  we  can  never,  as  Catholics,  be  indifferent  to  the 
moral  principles  which  enter  into  the  laws  and  shape  the  public 
policy  of  the  country."* 

These  extracts,  so  characteristic  of  the  arrogance  of  the  Priest, 
avow  most  distinctly  all  the  ambitious  designs  imputed  to  the  Roman 
priesthood.  The  proposed  discussion  of  the  great  practical  political 
questions  is  announced,  that  this  country  itself  may  be  taught  the 
moral  and  political  doctrines  which  flow  from  the  teachings  of  the 
Church,  and  may  become  thoroughly  Roman — all  other  sects  being 
for  a  day,  and  that  Church  forever ;  and  that  our  Republican  institu 
tions  may  be  altered  to  conform  to  the  Papacy,  by  its  principles 

*  Brownson's  Keview. 


THE   RIGHTS   OF   CONSCIEXrK.  '  173 

being  made  to  enter  into  the  laws  and  to  shape  the  public  policy  of 
this  country — all  this  is  here  boldly  avowed ;  and  also  that  every 
Jesuit,  Prelate,  and  Priest,  who  is  faithful  to  his  religion,  will  aid  the 
Pope,  their  hierarch,  to  possess  himself  of  this  country.  The  means 
by  which  they  expect  to  achieve  all  this,  is  by  the  slow  and  cautious 
movements,  the  profound  dissimulation  and  arts,  which  have  ever 
characterized  the  operations  of  this  priesthood,  to  get  possession  of 
the  political  power  by  controlling  the  ballot-box.  Whether  they 
ever  succeed  or  not,  that  is  their  sleepless  effort ;  and  so  subtle  are 
they  in  their  operations,  that  thousands  are  unconsciously  made 
their  agents  who  would  never  knowingly  submit  themselves  to 
any  such  purposes  of  mischief.  The  priesthood  are  encouraged  by 
their  own  strong  faith,  that,  if  they  do  not  succeed  in  this  century, 
their  successors  may  in  the  next,  for  their  system  is,  never  to  re 
linquish  a  foothold  gained.  They  do  not  build  humble  cabins  or 
perishable  houses  for  their  services ;  their  edifices,  composed  of  granite 
and  iron,  are  planted  deep  in  American  soil,  their  names  indicate 
promised  supremacy,  and  the  States  in  which  they  are  erected  are 
called,  with  arrogant  assumption,  "  provinces  of  the  Holy  See." 

Whatever  may  be  the  result  of  these  great  projects,  the  future  can 
alone  reveal,  but  their  prosecution  is  utterly  opposed  and  hostile  to 
the  design,  spirit,  and  practical  ends  of  our  system  and  institutions. 

In  carrying  out  this  vast  plan  of  aggression,  no  respect  is  paid  to 
the  laws  of  any  country  that  interfere  with  the  general  plan.  The 
ends  justify  the  means.  Thus  we  see  the  Grand  Council  of  Bishops 
sitting  in  Baltimore  in  1829,  solemnly  passing  the  following  as  a 
fundamental  rule  of  the  Church  : — 

"  Whereas  lay  trustees  have  frequently  abused  the  right  granted  to 
them  by  the  civil  authority,  to  the  great  detriment  of  religion  and 
scandal  of  the  faithful,  we  most  earnestly  desire  that  in  future  no 
church  be  erected  or  consecrated,  unless  it  be  assigned  by  a  written 
instrument  to  the  Bishop  in  whose  diocese  it  may  be  erected  for  the 
Divine  worship  and  use  of  the  faithful,  wherever  this  can  be  done." 

Now  these  Bishops,  mostly  foreigners,  inflated  with  the  idea  of 


174  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

their  infallibility,  thus  deliberately  demanded,  wherever  it  could  be 
done,  the  violation  of  the  whole  spirit  of  our  constitution  and  laws, 
and  have  acted  upon  this  treason  ever  since,  and  would  probably  have 
carried  it  on  under  the  secrecy  of  their  movements,  had  it  not  been 
dragged  to  light  by  the  appeal  to  the  civil  laws  of  some  few  inde 
pendent  trustees,  who  denied  that  their  Bishops  must  rule  them  in 
temporal  matters. 

So  persevering,  indeed,  are  these  Bishops,  that  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  even  before  the  special  law  confining  church  property  to  the 
ownership  of  trustees  had  been  fairly  spread  upon  the  statute  books, 
Bishop  Hughes  dedicated  in  Brooklyn,  the  church  of  "  St.  Mary,  Star 
of  the  Sea,"  and  in  his  sermon  announced  to  his  congregation,  that 
that  very  church  did  not  in  its  titles  conform  to  the  civil  laws  of  the 
land  !  and  that  the  Trustee  system  was  "  uncatholic  and  heretical ;" 
and  the  inference  in  the  minds  of  his  congregation  of  course  followed, 
that  no  faith  was  necessarily  to  be  kept  with  such  laws.* 

The  American  has  no  hostility  to  the  Roman  Church  as  a  system 
of  religious  faith,  notwithstanding  he  conscientiously  dissents  from 
its  essential  dogmas  and  doctrines.  He  makes  no  war  against  the 
religion  of  any  sect.  It  is  only  in  its  political  phases,  and  its  spi 
ritual  connection  inseparably  blended  with  them,  that  he  opposes 
the  Church  of  Rome.  To  that  extent,  all  true  lovers  of  liberty 
have  the  constitutional  right  to  animadvert  upon  it.  Its  efforts  to 
connect  itself  with  the  politics  of  the  country,  not  for  the  sake  of 
office,  but  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  officers  to  its  own 
will  and  advantage;  to  imbue  them  with  the  spirit  and  doctrines 
of  its  peculiar  faith, — these  are  the  things,  so  comprehensive  in  their 
hostility  to  our  system  of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  to  which  alone 
the  American  expresses  his  determined  hostility.  The  union  of  poli 
tics  and  religion,  of  Church  and  State,  have  ever  proved  themselves 
to  be  the  direful  curses  of  man ;  and  in  every  pulsation  of  the  heart, 

*  Sec  Tribune  of  Monday,  April  30,  1855,  and  other  New  York  daily  papers, 
for  Eeport  of  Bishop  Hughes'  Sermon  upon  the  occasion  of  consecrating  the 
church  known  as  "  St.  Mary,  Star  of  ttie  Son,"  Brooklyn,  New  York. 


THE   RIGHTS   OF   CONSCIENCE.  175 

in  every  ray  of  reason,  in  every  emotion  of  the  soul,  the  true  and 
patriotic  American,  will  make  war  against  every  and  any  religious 
association,  which  seeks  to  bring  about  an  alliance  so  much  to  be 
dreaded. 

Our  ancestors  came  to  this  New  World  to  enjoy,  themselves  and 
their  posterity  forever,  perfect  civil  and  religious  freedom,  and  the 
right  of  inquiry,  thought,  and  the  expression  of  opinion  upon  subjects, 
short  of  invasion  of  the  rights  of  others,  unfettered  as  the  winds  of 
heaven.  The  divorce  of  Church  and  State,  of  politics  and  religion, 
of  temporal  and  spiritual  affairs,  they  have  provided  for  in  our  con 
stitutions,  and  it  was  intended  to  be  absolute,  complete,  and  forever. 
In  the  scheme  of  the  hierarch  of  Rome  and  his  emissaries — spread 
and  spreading  over  the  face  of  this  country,  to  revolutionize  silently 
and  stealthily  this  order  of  things — they  now  have  at  their  command 
an  immense  army  of  voters,  perfectly  trained  to  do  their  bidding.  At 
every  election,  local  or  general,  this  mighty  force  is  made  to  act  with 
a  view,  present  or  remote,  to  the  grand  objects  of  those  who  control 
it.  The  certain  and  promptest  way  to  get  large  accessions — acces 
sions  which,  in  another  generation,  may  give  them  the  mastery  at 
the  polls — is,  to  permit  no  restriction  upon  emigration,  or  upon  the 
faculty  of  the  immigrant  to  vote  and  exercise  a  full  share  of  political 
sovereignty.  All  attempts  to  put  upon  them  any  restriction  will 
meet  the  inflexible  opposition,  the  anathemas  of  every  Roman  priest, 
and  probably  of  almost  every  Romanist  in  America. 

All  this  host  of  foreign  Romans,  now  here  and  coming,  are 
brought  up  to  the  confessional,  at  least  once  a  year,  to  make  a  full 
avowal  of  their  sins,  by  whispering  them  into  the  priest's  ear,  and 
whoever  omits  it  is  to  be  excommunicated,  and  if  he  die,  is  not  to 
be  allowed  Christian  burial.  This  is  the  function  of  the  priesthood, 
which  brings  up  before  it  all  the  liegemen  of  the  Papal  empire, 
and  bows  all  in  utter  subjection  and  submission  to  it.  When  the 
noviciate  for  the  first  time,  with  convulsive  excitement,  breathes  into 
the  ear  of  the  ghostly  father  the  deep  and  criminal  secrets  of  the 
heart,  the  soul  is  enslaved  forever  ;  a  chain  of  adamant  is  thrown 


176  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

around  it,  and  .tjiat  chain-  is  held  by  tliis  priest.  Even  then  lie  may 
grant  or  withhold  absolution  and  forgiveness.  Such  are  the  mighty 
spells  which  Romanism  brings  over  all  her  sons  and  daughters  ;  and 
those  who  work  them,  control  not  only  their  acts  and  conduct,  but 
their  thoughts  and  emotions.  And  how  often  is  this  puissance  of  the 
priesthood  exhibited  strikingly  in  our  country.  Bands  of  rude  and 
stormy  foreign  Romanists,  who  have  traditionary  feuds,  are  loitering 
in  the  same  neighborhood.  They  meet  in  bloody  affray.  The  civil 
officer  of  the  law  interposes  and  is  unheeded.  He  calls  to  his  aid  a 
large  constabulary  force,  which  is  laughed  to  scorn  by  the  infuriated 
mob.  The  military  is  summoned  to  uphold  the  civil  authority,  and 
blank  cartridges  are  fired  among  the  combatants,  but  no  more  re 
garded  than  the  whistling  of  the  winds.  At  length  death-dealing 
bullets  begin  their  fatal  office,  and  men  fall,  but  the  fight  still  rages. 
Lo !  the  priest  makes  his  appearance,  the  contending  mass  of  men 
pause  at  once,  and  give  attention.  He  speaks  a  few  words,  the  tem 
pest  of  excited  passion  ceases,  and  savage  men  are  subdued  as  children 
under  the  rebuke  of  an  invisible  power.  These  men  all  vote ;  but  is 
it  not  the  madness  of  folly  to  say,  that  their  wills,  when  under  such 
control,  are  represented  at  the  polls  ? 

There  are  numerous  Romanists,  natives  of  these  States,  who  possess 
every  element  pertaining  to  good  citizens,  men  who  are  every  way 
able  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  self-government,  and  discharge 
with  honor  every  political  privilege  imposed  upon  them ;  but  these 
men,  educated  in  this  country  of  light  and  liberty,  of  the  Bible  and 
free  schools,  are  not  representatives  of  the  Romanists  of  Europe. 
The  immigrant  is  radically  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  decayed  dynas 
ties  ;  he  was  never  taught  that  he  had  rights  and  an  individuality. 
On  the  contrary,  his  whole  history  has  been  one  of  humiliation ;  he 
was  made  to  feel  that  he  formed  an  insignificant  part  of  a  great  all- 
grasping  institution,  claiming  the  whole  earth's  sceptre,  spiritual  and 
temporal.  The  trembling  worshipper  at  the  foot  of  a  hierarchy,  and 
the  Pope  a  hierarch.  Such  arc  the  notions  the  Romanist  immigrant 
brings  to  our  land,  and,  under  the  guidance  of  the  priests  that  foster 


THE    RIGHTS    OF    CONSCIENCE.  177 

him,  cherishes  while  here  as  his  life's  blood.  It  is  the  influence  of 
this  false  education  (profanely  called  religious)  against  which  the 
true  American  declares  eternal  war.* 

"Among  lukewarm  partisans  and  ardent  antagonists,  a  small  num 
ber  of  believers  exist,  who,  in  defence  of  their  faith,  are  ready  to  brave 
all  obstacles,  and  to  scorn  all  dangers.  They  have  done  violence 
to  human  weakness,  in  order  to  rise  superior  to  public  opinion.  Ex 
cited  by  the  effort  they  have  made,  they  scarcely  know  where  to  stop. 
They  look  upon  their  contemporaries  with  dread,  and  recoil  in  alarm 
from  the  liberty  which  their  fellow-citizens  enjoy.  They  are  at  war 
with  their  age  and  country,  and  they  look  upon  every  opinion  which 
is  put  forth,  as  the  necessary  enemy  of  their  faith."f 

Such  men,  in  demanding  liberty  of  conscience  for  themselves,  deny 
it  unto  others ;  and  the  step  is  rapid  from  intolerance  to  persecution. 
But  our  Constitution,  in  guaranteeing  perfect  religious  freedom  to  all, 
will  not  justly  be  charged  with  abjuring  its  principles,  if  it  compel 
these  bigots  to  award  the  same  deference  to  the  opinions  of  others, 
which  they  enjoy  for  their  own. 

The  determination  on  the  part  of  any  Church  to  force  its  faith 
upon  another — the  tendency  to  proselytize  at  all  hazards — is  certain 
to  lead  to  a  state  of  anarchy  in  which  liberty  cannot  exist.  When 
such  views  are  openly  avowed  and  acted  upon  by  any  creed,  it  be 
comes  necessary,  for  the  safety  of  others,  either  to  prevent  its  resi 
dence  in  our  midst,  or  so  to  fence  about  and  confine  it  within  the 
strict  bounds  of  legality,  as  to  render  it  incapable  of  mischief.  Re 
ligion  is  a  question  on  which  we  cannot  legislate;  it  is  a  matter 
concerning  the  individual,  not  the  mass.  But  if  the  creed  of  any 
party  attempt  to  control  temporal  affairs  by  means  of  a  so-called 

*  At  the  last  celebration  of  St.  Patrick's  day  in  New  York  city,  the  Irish 
guests  (intoxicated  with  zeal  by  an  inflammatory  speech  of  one  of  the  several 
priests  present  on  the  occasion)  announced  themselves  as  supporters  of  Ameri 
can  freedom  and  the  hierarchy.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  one  mind 
supporting  two  things  more  directly  antagonistic;  yet  the  announcement  was 
perfectly  consistent  with  the  gentlemen's  ideas  of  American  liberty. 

t  De  Tocqueville.  * 


178  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

spiritual  power,  the  Constitution  of  our  country  is  only  carrying  out 
its  liigh  and  holy  mission,  by  restraining  their  ambitious  views  with 
wholesome  and  necessary  coercion.  The  framing  of  laws  to  bring 
about  this  coercion,  however,  would  not  only  be  difficult,  but  almost, 
if  net  quite,  impossible.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  that  the  citizen 
should  have  correct  opinions,  and  that  the  desired  effect  should  be 
produced  by  the  force  of  public  opinion,  rather  than  by  written  laws, 


RELIGIOUS   TOLERATION. 

"  True  religion 

Is  always  mild,  propitious,  and  humane  ; 
Plays  not  the  tyrant,  plants  no  faith  in  blood  ; 
But  stoops  to  polish,  succor,  and  redress, 
And  builds  her  grandeur  on  the  public  good." 

MlLLEK. 

THE  opposition  which  exists  in  the  mind  of  every  American  against 
oppression,  causes  a  dislike  to  any  and  every  institution,  no  matter 
what  may  be  its  name,  that  is  the  support  of  the  oppressor.  In 
looking  over  European  countries,  the  larger  portion  of  their  inhabit 
ants  are  found  to  be  sunken  into  the  lowest  depths  of  ignorance  and 
semi-barbarism.  They  have  no  defined  rights,  and  are  the  uncom 
plaining  servants  of  aristocratic  rulers.  Upon  one  subject  alone  they 
seem  thoroughly  instructed,  and  that  is,  to  render  slavish  obedience 
to  the  priests,  and  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  Church.  Hearing  a 
service  on  the  Sabbath-day  conducted  in  a  dead  language,  and  studi 
ously  debarred  from  all  the  ordinary  channels  of  information  so 
common  in  America,  their  minds  are  literally  in  the  chains  of  igno 
rance,  and  to  keep  them  there  confined  is  brought  to  bear  the  whole 
machinery  of  the  Roman  Church.  One  of  the  most  vital  principles 
of  our  government  is  religious  toleration ;  the  American,  whatever 
may  be  his  creed,  shrinks  from  any  imposition  upon  the  conscience, 
and  hence  it  is  that  the  grossest  abuses  may  creep  into  our  body 
politic,  if  profanely  sanctioned  by  the  garb  of  religion,  and  for  that 
reason  it  is  difficult  and  delicate  to  discuss  the  causes  of  this  European 
degradation,  because  it  is  at  once  urged  by  the  Jesuit  and  the  dema 
gogue,  that  any  determination  of  the  citizens  of  this  country  to  make 
a  distinction  between  the  political  and  religious  character  of  the 


180  A    VOICE    TO    AMERICA. 

Roman  Church,  is  an  attack -upon  the  rights  of  the  conscience,  and 
at  once  the  cry  of  persecution  is  raised.  Whatever  may  l;e  the  ex 
citement,  the  work  has  to  be  done ;  it  is  the  duty  of  the  true  Romanist 
as  well  as  the  true  Protestant  to  examine  this  subject  dispassionately 
and  come  to  a  perfect  understanding,  for  upon  it  rests  at  this  mo- . 
ment,  more  than  upon  any  other  thing,  the  perpetuity  of  our  free 
institutions, 

The  enthusiastic  lover  of  liberty  has'  heretofore  argued,  that  mulei 
the  bright  rays  of  religious  toleration,  the  minds  of  our  most  ignorant 
naturalized  citizens  would  insensibly  be  enlightened,  and  that  the 
most  bigoted  would  gradually  become  converted  to  charity,  and  that 
the  beauty  of  our  political  system  would  thoroughly  absorb  their 
affections,  to  the  exclusion  of  any  fondness  for  anti-republican  semi- 
ments  and  oppressive  political  institutions.  But,  so  far  from  thi:- 
being  the  case,  the  experience  of  the  last  few  years  develops  the 
melancholy  fact,  that  men  born  in  this  country,  and  deservedly 
honored  for  their  general  intelligence,  can  sometimes,  under  the 
severe  discipline  of  Romish  institutions,  be  brought  to  support  them 
with  all  the  enthusiasm  and  Jesuitical  casuistry  that  characterizes  the 
uneducated  European  or  the  designing  ecclesiastic.  It  is  but  recently 
that  a  gentleman  of  national  reputation,  in  making  a  defence  of  the 
Pope  and  his  authority  upon  the  floor  of  Congress — a  gentleman  v>ho 
is  possessed  of  great  knowledge  and  a  keen  sense  of  truth  when 
treating  of  civil  or  general  matters — boldly  announced  that  the  Pope 
had  no  political  power,  that  he  never  meddled  himself  with  govern 
ments,  but  confined  his  authority  to  religious  matters  alone.  But 
even  while  the  echoes  of  his  voice  were  vibrating  in  our  national 
Capitol,  the  news  from  the  Italian  States  announced,  that  the  Pope, 
finding  he  could  not  arrest  the  progress  of  liberal  opinions  in  Sardinia, 
had  issued  a  "  Bull,"  releasing  all  Romanists  of  that  kingdom  from 
allegiance  to  their  civil  rulers  I 

We  find  also  that  gentlemen  in  our  various  Legislatures,  who 
ordinarily  love  the  truth  and  respect  the  lessons  of  history,  proclaim 
ing  that  the  Roman  Church  is  the  friend  and  eucourager  of  free 


RELIGIOUS   TOLERATION.  181 

institutions,  while  they  know,  and  often  from  personal  observation 
too,  that  the  people  of  the  Papal  States  are  the  most  degraded,  and 
the  farthest  removed  from  freemen,  of  any  other  government  of  the 
world ;  and  that  ia  all  Papal  countries,  oppression  and  decay  are 
paramount,  just  in  proportion  as  they  acknowledge  the  influence  of 
the  Romish  power. 

To  the  ingenuous  American  mind,  these  strange  misrepresenta 
tions  of  history  for  the  purpose  of  defending  the  Roman  Church  are 
hard  to  understand,  and  they  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  prin 
ciple,  that  that  Church  seizes  upon  the  imagination  and  the  will  of 
its  adherents,  and  blinds  them  to  the  plainest  truths,  and  makes  them 
unresisting  instruments  for  the  propagation  of  the  most  pernicious 
errors. 

In  no  Romanist  country  is  there  any  real  religious  toleration ;  seven- 
eighths  of  our  emigrants  are  brought  up  and  educated  to  believe 
that  such  toleration  is  an  unpardonable  sin.  Sunke»xin  poverty, 
and  suffering  from  the  severest  oppression,  thevJeave  their  native 
countries  and  seek  a  home  on  American  sptff  but,  do  they  leave 
behind  them  the  errors  of  their  early  e^^atiou  ?  Are  they  forever 
freed  from  the  presence  and  baleful  in^oence  of  their  political  priests  ? 
Certainly  not.  So  far  from  this^ing  the  case,  we  find  the  Jesuit 
follows  in  their  footsteps,  an^taking  advantage  of  the  freedom  of 
Protestant  institutions,  manages  to  exert  a  power  over  the  minds  and 
consciences  of  our  immigrant  population,  as  perfect  as  if  they  lived 
under  monarchical  governments.  The  American,  perceiving  this 
evil,  and  noticing  its  political  character,  denounces  it  from  the  stump, 
through  the  press,  and  attempts  to  counteract  it  at  the  polls;  in 
stantly  the  eiy  is  raised  by  the  wily  Jesuit  and  the  office-seeking 
demagogue,  of  religious  intolerance,  and  people,  who  never  breathed 
one  breath  of  Christian  charity,  who,  as  an  act  of  religious  faith,  de 
nounce  all  who  differ  from  them'  as  heretics  and  heathen — people 
who  are  prepared,  at  any  moment  they  can  grasp  the  power  of  the 
State,  to  punish  freedom  of  thought  with  imprisonment  and  death, 
go  forth  in  the  highways  and  byways  denouncing  American  citizens, 

9 


182  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

who  desire  to  protect  the  purity  of  their  institutions  from  the  evils  of 
this  foreign  influence. 

In  America  alone  is  enjoyed  in  the  fullest  sense  the  right  to  wor 
ship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  the  conscience.  Americans 
conceived  and  put  in  practice  such  toleration ;  but  while  it  is  freely 
enjoyed  here  by  the  Romanists,  and  demanded  as  a  right,  still  it  is 
not  accorded  to  Americans  in  Romanist  countries,  and  this  illiberal 
spirit  finds  advocates  and  meets  with  justification  in  the  organs  of 
Romanism,  and  the  gross  inconsistency  seems  to  be  unnoticed. 

The  Island  of  Cuba  is  the  resort  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  our 
citizens,  either  as  mariners,  merchants,  or  invalids ;  among  the  latter 
are  many  who  visit  the  island  to  die,  and  yet  to  this  day  there  is  no 
Protestant  chapel,  nor  clergymen  -to  give  spiritual  instruction.  Any 
attempt  to  hold  Protestant  service  calls  forth  the  interference  of  the 
police;  and  it  was  only  recently  that  an  English  Bishop,  visiting 
Havana,  was  denied  the  privilege  of  celebrating  religious  service  in 
the  house  of  the  British  Consul. 

There  is  no  American  Protestant  chapel  in  Mexico,  and  it  would 
be  impossible  to  establish  one. 

In  Italy,  the  central  counivy  of  Romanism,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Pope-denounced  kingdom  ot  Sardinia,  no  religious  service  could 
be  held  by  an  American  Protestant  minister,  unless  it  were  in  the 
house  of  the  American  Consul,  and  nude*  the  American  flao-. 

In  Romanist  Spain  and  Austria,  the  war  upon  Protestants  amounts 
to  a  total  exclusion  under  all  circumstances. 

In  Portugal,  the  penal  code,  promulgated  as  recently  as  1852, 
punishes  with  imprisonment  and  fine  all  who  engage  in  acts  of 
worship  not  of  the  Romanist  religion. 

American  Protestants  are  exposed  to  insult  and  maltreatment  in 
Mexico,  Central  America,  all  South  America,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Spain, 
Portugal,  Austria,  and  nearly  all  of  Italy,  if  they  do  not  kneel  when 
they  meet  a  procession  bearing  "  the  Host,"  although  they  may  con 
scientiously  deem  the  act  idolatrous,  and  contrary  to  the  word  of 
God.  The  records  of  every  year  are  filled  with  details  of  outrages 


RELIGIOUS   TOLERATION.  183 

perpetrated,  for  the  reason  above  given,  upon  Americans  travelling 
abroad. 

The  right,  in  many  Romanist  countries,  of  quietly  depositing  in  the 
mother  earth  the  remains  of  the  dead,  is  denied  to  American  Pro 
testants,  and  the  living  have  had  to  carry  the  deceased  many  hundred 
miles,  to  find  a  resting-place  under  the  ajgis  of  less  bigoted  govern 
ments.  Where  the  privilege  is  granted,  it  is  attended,  as  in  some 
parts  of  Italy,  with  the  degrading  condition  that  the  burial  shall  take 
place  at  unseasonable  hours — and  American  Protestants  have  been 
unceremoniously  thrust  into  the  earth  as  if  they  were  brute  beasts, 
to  avoid  exhumation  and  insult  from  the  imbruted  populace,  who 
were  thus  inflamed  against  the  religion  of  the  deceased  by  the 
bigoted  priests. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  highly  respectable  American  merchant  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  a  beloved  wife,  whom  he  had  taken  to  the  Island 
of  Cuba  for  the  restoration  of  her  health.  Abandoned  by  all  the 
people  who  surrounded  him,  he  was  compelled  in  an  obscure  spot  to 
dig  a  grave  with  his  own  hands,  and  with  difficulty  succeeded  in 
procuring  the  help  of  two  negroes,  to  assist  him  in  the  melancholy 
task  of  consigning  all  that  was  once  so  cherished  to  its  mother  earth ; 
and  yet  these  Africans,  pagan-born  and  besotted  in  ignorance,  had 
been  taught  to  fear  for  their  lives,  if  it  were  known  to  the  authorities 
they  had  assisted  in  the  "  burial  of  a  heretic !"  • 

Mr.  Wise,  late  U.  S.  minister  to  Brazil,  states,  that  Mr.  Tudor,  our 
Charge  to  that  government, — the  successful  negotiator  of  a  treaty 
of  amity  and  commerce,  and  the  representative  of  the  greatest  Re 
public  in  the  world, — was  indebted  to  the  British  legation  for  a 
sanctuary  for  his  corpse,  and  but  for  this  charity,  the  Romanist  govern 
ment  of  Brazil  would  probably  have  spurned  the  body  of  Mr.  Tudor 
from  its  dominions,  the  hatred  of  heretics  extending  even  into  the 
grave.  Mr.  Wise  establishes  himself  in  his  new  residence,  he  has 
his  family  around  him,  he  has  been  accustomed  to  advocate  and  to 
grant  religious  toleration.  He  is  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  a 
great  nation,  and  should  command  respect ;  but  the  Sabbath  comes, 


184:  A    VOTCK    TO    AMERICA. 

he  hears  the  bells  chiming  for  church,  dismay  seizes  upon  him  and 
his  household,  and  he  exclaims,  in  the  true  sense  of  his  deprivation, 
"  Where  am  I  and  my  family  and  American  friends  to  attend  Divine, 
worship  ?  There  is  no  ground  here  consecrated  for  us  !  We  are  re 
minded  on  this  Lord's  day  of  our  homes  in  our  own  blessed,  happy 
land  of  universal  tolerance  in  religion,  but  here,  by  treaty  in  a  land 
of  commercial  friends,  we  have  no  religious  allies,  and  are  indeed 
'strangers  in  a  strange  land!'  If  their  God  is  our  God,  their  country 
is  not  ours  to  worship  in !" 

In  all  Protestant  countries,  Romanists  enjoy  the  liberty  of  religious 
worship.  Everywhere  they  may  fill  not  only  magisterial,  but  even 
political  offices.  O'Connell,  the  champion  of  that  Church,  was  a 
member  of  the  British  Parliament!  Examples  of  the  same  liberality 
can  be  found  in  the  governments  of  Prussia,  Holland,  Sweden,  Den 
mark,  and  the  United  States.  Toleration  is  the  fundamental  spirit 
of  the  organic  law.  Not  an  example  can  be  quoted  where  the  reli 
gious  worship  of  the  Romanist  Church  is  impeded  in  a  Protestant 
country,  as  that  of  the  Protestant  is,  in  Rome,  Naples,  Florence, 
Milan,  Madrid  and  Lisbon,  and  the  South  American  States. 

The  mass  of  the  people  of  France  are  tolerant,  but  the  Roman 
clergy  are  restless  under  their  loss  of  power,  and  watch  with  unceas 
ing  energy  to  restore  their  fortunes  by  giving  their  influence  to  the 
usurper  of  the  nation's  liberties.  Napoleon  III.  found  the  priests  his 
most  willing  tools,  and  the  first  to  forgive  his  falsehoods  and  his 
perjuries.*  Their  political  influence  was  bought  at  the  price  of  the 
imperial  recognition  of  their  religion;  the  effect  is  already  felt. 
Without  any  repeal  of  fundamental  laws,  Protestantism  is  discou 
raged,  its  schools  under  various  pretexts  successively  suppressed,  and 
its  publications  prohibited. 

In  Austria,  all  Protestant  meetings  require  the  sanction  of  the 
police;  the  government  thus  prevents  them,  without  appearing  to 

*  "  May  he  (Louis  Napoleon)  be  blessed,  this  man  of  God,  this  great  man,  fur 
it  is  God  who  has  raised  him  up  for  the  happiness  of  our  country." — Bishop  <f 
Chalons'1  Address  to  Ills  Clergy,  Scjttember,  1854. 


RELIGIOUS   TOLERATION.  185 

prohibit ;  and  those  persons  who  have  presumed  to  publish  or  propa 
gate  the  Bible,  have  been  banished  at  the  instigation  of  the  Romish 
clergy. 

In  Spain  but  one  religion  is  professed,  and  none  other  is  permitted 
in  any  shape.  To  be  a  Spaniard  implies  necessarily  to  be  a  Romanist. 
He  who  dares  to  forsake  that  faith  is  by  law  banished,  lest  the  poison 
of  his  heresy  should  spread  contagion,  while  those  who  have  tempted 
him  from  his  early  faith  are  liable  to  imprisonment.  Hitherto  the 
traveller  was  looked  upon  as  an  exception ;  but  as  Spain  decays  in 
political  power,  as  she  sinks  into  contempt  among  the  family  of 
nations,  Papacy  grasps  her  soul  more  firmly,  and  her  priest-ridden 
government  decrees,  that  even  the  "  traveller"  is  no  longer  permitted 
"  to  profess  any  but  the  Romanist  religion  ;"  and  the  American  Pro 
testant,  while  residing  in  Spain,  must  hide  his  religious  sentiments, 
and,  when  dead,  must  be  cast  as  some  foul  thing  into  an  obscure, 
and,  by  the  Spanish  people,  what  is  considered  a  dishonored  grave. 

Tuscany  is  notorious,  and  Naples  infamous  for  its  intolerance. 
The  Madiai  persecution,  which  roused  the  sympathy  of  the  Protestant 
world,  and  yet  found  defenders  among  the  foreign  Papists  of  this 
country,  is  but  a  single  instance  of  many,  that,  in  spite  of  the  secrecy 
of  Jesuit  police,  and  the  depths  of  Italian  dungeons,  find  their  way 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  enlightened  Christendom.  Naples,  where 
nature  appears  in  its  most  glorious  forms,  and  where  man  alone  is 
base, — Naples,  which  in  days  of  yore  coped  with  the  haughty  Pontiffs 
of  Rome,  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  trampled  upon 
Papal  Bulls, — now  lies  prostrate  in  the  dust.  Violent,  bigoted,  and 
profligate,  her  people  violate  every  precept  of  morality,  yet  observe 
every  ceremonial  of  religion.  They  are  the  degraded  vassals  of  in 
tolerance,  without  alleviation,  and  without  hope. 

At  last  we  penetrate  into  the  "  imperial  city,"  and  reach  Rome 
itself.  If  other  countries  have  admitted  unjustifiable  Papal  claims, 
if  other  countries  have  harbored  the  Inquisition,  it  was  here  the 
haughty  thunders  were  launched.  Here  intolerance  reigns  supreme. 
Here  it  had  its  birth,  here  it  has  made  its  throne.  Here  it  was  that 


186  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Gregory  XIII.  rejoiced  over  the  slaughter  of  the  Huguenots,  and 
ordered  a  Te  Dcum  to  be  sung,  with  illuminations  for  the  people, 
and,  for  the  benefit  of  posterity,  a  medal  in  brass  commemorative  of 
the  glorious  event !  Here  it  is,  in  our  own  day,  where  the  Pope,  in 
a  studied  allocution,  congratulates  Christendom  because  Spain  re 
lapses  into  the  intolerance  of  bygone  centuries.  When  New  Grenada, 
not  a  year  ago,  by  decrees  established  a  free  press,  free  education,  and 
tolerance  in  religion,  from  Rome  comes  another  allocution,  condemn 
ing  such  fearful  approaches  to  "  hated  liberty,"  which  are  denounced 
"  as  horrible  and  sacrilegious  war  against  the  Romish  Church ;"  and 
her  citizens  are  stimulated  to  open  rebellion  against  their  rulers  by 
the  Pope's  annunciation,  that  he  "  declares  utterly  null  and  void  all 
the  aforesaid  decrees,  which  have  been  enacted  by  the  civil  power." 
The  Pope  knows,  "  That  wherever  religious  liberty  exists,  it  will,  first 
or  last,  bring  in  an  established  political  party ;  wherever  it  is  sup 
pressed,  the  Church  Establishment  will,  first  or  last,  become  the  en 
gine  of  despotism,  and  overthrow,  unless  it  be  itself  overthrown,  every 
vestige  of  political  liberty."* 

The  cause  of  this  intolerance  is  fundamental  with  the  Roman 
Church;  it  cannot  alter  its  character  without  losing  its  individu 
ality.  Styling  itself  "  Infallible,"  its  claims  cannot  be  set  aside.  Its 
intolerance,  its  ministers  say,  arises  from  authority ;  it  is  therefore 
legitimate,  and  to  yield  would  be  sacrificing  to  licentiousness.  Nor 
do  the  advocates  of  Romanism  claim  the  virtues  of  liberality  so  much 
admired  by  the  true-hearted  American.  They  are  willing  to  enjoy 
the  advantages  of  liberty,  and  shelter  their  institutions  under  the 
broad  folds  of  our  tolerant  flag.  The  Jesuits  themselves,  a  proscribed 
class  of  political  priests  even  among  most  of  the  countries  devoted  to 
Romanism,  find  here  a  foothold,  and,  from  the  unsuspicious  character 
of  our  people,  scarcely  call  forth  an  observation  to  their  ulterior  de 
signs,  of  sapping  our  liberties  and  changing  the  character  of  our  in 
stitutions.  Yet  all  this  toleration  on  our  part  meets  with  no  response 

*  Justice  Story. 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION.  187 

from  the  Romanist  hierarchy  or  people.  The  hierarchy  hate  and  fear 
it ;  the  lay  members,  if  they  cherish  any  admiration,  dare  not  express 
it.  Hence  we  find  that  no  minister  at  Washington  representing  a 
Romanist  country  acknowledges  the  superior  Christian  liberality 
of  our  government,  nor  has  it  ever  been  officially  reciprocated  or 
commended.  The  Romanist  journals  published  in  America  never 
advocate  religious  toleration ;  on  the  contrary,  they  threaten,  if  their 
cherished  doctrines  gain  the  ascendency,  that  toleration  will  cease ; 
and  special  care  is  taken  by  the  priests,  who  are  with  few  exceptions 
foreigners,  to  cultivate  and  encourage  among  our  immigrant  Romanist 
population,  the  same  bitter  hostility  to  the  "  heretic"  that  characterized 
their  chief  education  in  their  native  land.  The  American,  in  consider 
ation  of  these  facts,  finds  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  between  the 
abuse  of  the  name  of  religion,  and  religion  itself.  He  strips  the 
matter  of  its  complications,  and,  giving  to  the  conscience  full  liberty, 
opposes  political  tendencies  and  practices  calculated  to  destroy  our 
Republican  institutions*,  he  opposes  a  political  system  despotic  in  its 
organization,  anti-republican  in  its  tendencies,  and  at  utter  war  with 
the  simplicity  of  our  whole  government. 

It  is  only  as  a  hierarchy,  as  a  religio-political  institution,  having 
vast  political  projects,  and  organized  for  political  action,  and  because 
its  principles,  purposes,  and  operations  are  utterly  inimical  to  popular 
and  American  constitutional  liberty,  to  all  civil  and  religious  freedom, 
that  the  true  American  stands  up  in  opposition  to  it.  Until  Ameri 
can  Romanists  call  their  general  councils,  and  purge  their  system 
of  its  interior  and  harsh  ecclesiastical  despotism ;  until  they  join 
together  as  a  body,  and  demand  the  same  toleration  for  American 
Protestants  abroad,  that  Romanists  everywhere  receive  in  America; 
until  they  announce  to  the  Pope  and  the  world  that  his  supremacy 
is  only  spiritual,  and  out  of  his  Papal  dominions  in  Italy,  he,  nor  his 
priests,  have  right  to  interfere  in  politics  or  temporal  affairs;  that 
they  owe  him  or  his  "hierarchy  no  duty  or  obedience  incompatible 
with  their  full  and  perfect  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  or  any  of 
the  States,  or  that  is  hostile  to  any  of  the  principles  of  their  govern- 


188  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

ments ;  that  they  are  opposed  to,  and  will  ever  resist  the  mnion  of 
Church  and  State,  and  any  mixing  of  their  affairs ;  until  they  bid7 
and  will  compel  their  priesthood  to  cease  their  meddling  with  the 
government  and  politics  of  the  country,  with  a  view  to  shape  its  laws 
and  policy  for  their  ulterior  purposes,  and  to  desist  from  their  efforts 
to  control  the  entire  Romanist  vote  of  America ; — Until  these  things- 
are  done,  no  native  American,  no  true  friend  of  liberty,  wherever 
born  or  whatever  be  his  religion,  can  conscientiously  cease  his  op 
position  to  this  great  religio-political  institution ;  for  the  very  spirit 
of  self-preservation  requires,  that  war  be  waged  as  much  upon  an 
aggressive  religious  power,  as  upon  an  aggressive  civil  power,  for 
both  are  equally  hostile  to  our  Republican  institutions. 

Religion  is  a  question  between  man's  conscience  and  his  God.  No- 
government  can  interfere  with  it,  except  to  guarantee  perfect  freedom 
to  all,  in  the  exercise  of  that  faith  which  each  has  seen  fit  to  embrace  ; 
or  to  prevent  a  persecuting  system  of  proselytism,  which  history  shows 
us  has  been  the  characteristic  of  every  religious  sect  in  all  ages.  A 
government  guaranteeing  toleration  to  every  Church,  has  the  right  to 
compel  them  to  tolerate  each  other. 

Religion  is  perfectly  distinct  from,  and  cannot  possibly  be  any  part 
of,  political  government.  The  former  regards  not  the  present  world, 
but  looks  to  a  future  state.  The  latter  regulates  the  affairs  of  time, 
but  leaves  untouched  those  of  eternity.  There  is  an  impassable  gulf 
between  them — one  that  mankind  can  never  bridge.  When  the 
attempt  has  been  made,  it  has  invariably  met  with  a  calamitous  issue, 

"  In  Europe,  Christianity  has  been  intimately  united  to  the  powers 
of  the  earth.  Those  powers  are  now  in  decay,  and  it  is,  as  it  were, 
buried  under  their  ruins.  The  living  body  of  religion  has  beer. 
bound  down  to  the  dead  corpse  of  superannuated  polity.  Cut  the 
bonds  which  restrain  it,  and  that  which  is  alive  will  rise  once  more."* 

Shall  such  be  the  result  in  our  country?  This  is  the  question 
which  Americans  have  to  answer,  and  to  answer  ere  it  be  too  late. 
Let  them  arise  and  tell  the  priestly  hierarchies  that  when  they 

*  De  Tocqueville. 


RELIGIOUS  TOLEEATION. 

attempt  to  subjugate  the  temporal  to  the  spiritual  power,  and,  by 
means  of  uncontrolled  influence  over  the  minds  of  their  followers, 
peril  the  peace  of  the  community,  hinder  the  operation  of  the  laws, 
and,  by  their  acts,  proclaim  the  Constitution  a  dead  letter,  toleration 
becomes  impossible ;  for  toleration  would  then  be  treason  to  the 
country. 

9* 


THE  BIBLE  THE  CHARTER  OF  LIBERTY. 

"  Out  from  the  heart  of  nature  rolled 
The  burthens  of  the  Bible  old, 
The  Litanies  of  nations  came 
Like  the  volcano's  tongue  of  flame  ; 
Up  from  the  burning  core  below 
The  Canticles  of  Love  and  Woe." 

EMERSON. 

THE  BIBLE  is  the  charter  of  human  liberty,  and  in  the  teachings 
of  that  sacred  volume  are  to  be  found  the  glad  tidings  that  all  men 
are  free  and  equal,  not  only  before  each  other,  but  in  the  sight  of 
God.  So  long  as  the  Scriptures  were  confined  to  the  few,  so  long 
as  its  pages  were  closed  to  the  multitude,  so  long  the  world  rested  in 
darkness,  and  oppression  existed  throughout  all  lands.  From  the 
time  of  the  invention  of  printing,  and  tie  consequent  circulation  of 
the  Bible,  do  we  date  the  commencement  of  those  struggles  against 
despotism  which  finally  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  our  free 
government. 

It  cannot  be  controverted,  that  the  Bible  was  the  cause  of  the 
early  revolutions  that  startled  kings  from  their  thrones,  and  shook 
the  foundations  of  the  Vatican.  It  taught  men  the  rights  of  the 
citizen,  and  these  led  them  to  examine  the  claims  of  rulers.  It  ques 
tioned  traditions  and  authorities,  and  rejected  them  if  not  in  accord 
ance  with  the  humble  but  sublime  teachings  of  Christ.  Finding 
that  the  Creator  looked  upon  all  men  with  equal  favor,  all  laws  not 
in  conformity  with  this  principle  were  pronounced  unauthorized  and 
unjust.  The  inculcation  of  the  direct  confession  of  sins  to  the  Throne  of 
Grace,  swept  away  at  a  blow  the  assumptions  of  priestcraft,  and  made* 
man  responsible  for  his  actions  to  his  own  conscience  and  his  God. 
Multitudes,  who  before  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  were  debased, 


192  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

made  self-reliance  the  prevailing  feature  of  the  age.  The  light  that 
poured  into  the  civilized  world,  overwhelmed  society  with  new  views 
and  aspirations.  Every  page  of  the  sacred  volume  strengthened  the 
minds  of  the  reformers,  and  shed  a  lustre  over  the  memories  of  the 
martyrs  who  had  through  all  time  died  in  defence  of  liberty.  The 
very  foundations  of  society  rocked  to  the  centre ;  the  divine  right  of 
kings,  and  the  profane  assumptions  of  priests,  were  scoffed  at. 

In  England,  and  on  the  Continent,  the  standard  of  rebellion  was 
raised,  and  thousands,  filled  with  new-born  zeal,  fearlessly  asserted 
the  glorious  promises  of  man's  regeneration.  The  triumphs  of  hu 
manity,  of  civilization,  and  of  Christianity,  which  are  the  boasts  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  would  have  been  unknown,  and  the  pall 
of  the  dark  ages  would  still  be  upon  us,  were  it  not  for  the  free 
circulation  of  the  Bible.  This  great  truth  has  always  been  acknow 
ledged  with,  the  greatest  solemnity  by  our  Revolutionary  fathers. 
Washington  and  his  compatriots  entered  upon  no  serious  duties,  with 
out  the  reading  o£  the  Scriptures,  and  an  humble  acknowledgment 
of  dependence  upon  Divine  Wisdom  for  instruction  in  council,  and 
strength  in  the  hour  of  battle.  In  all  hours  of  suffering,  in  the 
darkest  days  that  tried  men's  s^uls,  it  was  the  encouragement  held 
forth  in  the  sacred  volume  that  ke]^t  our  sires  from  despondency, 
and  strengthened  their  arms  in  the  noble  thought,  that  their  cause 
was  sanctioned  by  the  God  of  battles.  The  original  demands  of  the 
men,  whose  sufferings  and  martyrdom  form  so  large  a  page  in  the 
early  struggles  for  human  freedom,  was,  that  the  Bible  might  be 
made  free,  and  that  its  teachings  might  illume  the  hearts  and  con 
sciences  of  all  men. 

The  question,  then,  comes  home  seriously  to  every  conscience,  Can 
our  present  form  of  government  exist  if  the  Bible  be  excluded  from 
the  public  eye  ?  Are  those  persons  who  fear  its  influence,  and  do  all 
in  their  power  to  suppress  its  circulation,  friends  to  liberty?  Are 
those  of  our  citizens  who  consent  to  be  deprived  of  the  Bible*  and 
avoid  its  pages  as  if  they  were  possessed  of  contagion,  capable  of 
self-government  ?  We  can  imagine  individuals  who  may  be  good 


THE  BIBLE  THE  CHARTER  OF  LIBERTY.  193 

citizens  without  the  enlightenment  of  the  precepts  of  the  Holy  Book, 
but  we  cannot  conceive  of  a  nation  prospering  without  sensibly  feel 
ing  and  acknowledging  their  influence.  Man  is  a  religious  being, 
and  upon  that  immortal  principle  rests  the  security  of  all  human 
rights ;  he  must  therefore  either  have  his  morals  cultivated  by  his 
own  intelligent  pursuit  of  good  from  the  fountain  of  truth,  or  he 
must  consent  to  put  himself  in  ecclesiastical  servitude,  and  have  his 
conscience  controlled  by  others. 

The  American  is  distinguished  from  all  other  people,  because  he 
thinks  for  himself,  and  thus  displays  the  possession  of  the  very 
essence  of  self-government.  He  reads  the  Bible,  learns  from  its 
precepts  the  distinctions  between  right  and  wrong,  that  all  men  are 
equal  in  the  sight  of  Heaven,  that  he  must  love  his  neighbor  as  him 
self,  and  that  he  alone  is  responsible  to  God  for  his  acts.  This  high 
state  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture  never  was  obtained  in  perfec 
tion  except  under  American  institutions,  and  the  accomplishment  of 
it  was  heralded  as  the  greatest  triumph  of  humanity  from  the  bondage 
and  oppression  of  ages. 

Any  doctrine,  therefore,  that  teaches  the  suppression  of  the  Bible, 
must  be  inimical  to  liberty — must  be  treason  to  the  preservation  of 
the  Republican  character ;  and  whether  it  is  advocated  by  the  avowed 
skeptic,  or  more  dangerously  urged  under  the  guise  of  religion,  in 
both  cases  the  pernicious  tendency  is  the  same.  Infidelity  would 
strike  at  the  foundations  of  all  liberty,  by  destroying  the  authority 
which  sanctifies  its  existence  :  religion,  falsely  so  called,  would  accom 
plish  the  same  object,  on  the  ground  that  the  individual  is  not  in 
matters  of  conscience  capable  of  deciding  for  himself. 

The  country  has  been  agitated  about  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
in  our  public  schools.  The  Romish  priests  have  protested  against 
such  an  enormity,  and  the  usefulness  of  the  noblest  institution  of 
our  country  has  been  impaired  and  imperiled,  in  the  effort  to  drive 
the  book  from  the  teacher's  desk.  In  many  cases  our  American 
populations  have  yielded  to  the  assumption,  that  certain  American 
children  could  be  injured  by  hearing  its  Divine  precepts,  instead  of 


194:  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

taking  the  position,  that  children  reared  in  such  bigotry  were  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  neither  sympathized  with  nor  understood  our 
institutions ;  for  it  is  certain  beyond  contradiction,  that  those  who 
persist  in  such  strange  exclusiveness  have  still  lingering  in  their 
minds  a  reverence  for  absolutism  not  in  accordance  with  universal 
liberty. 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  a  Romanist,  and  one  of  the  signer  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence,  is  constantly  quoted  as  an  evidence 
of  the  liberty-loving  spirit  of  his.  Church.  That  he  was  a  patriot  and 
loved  his  country  there  cannot  be  a  doubt ;  but  when  he  associated 
himself  with  Washington,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  other  fathers  of 
the  Revolution,  he  surrendered,  at  the  very  commencement  of  his 
political  career,  the  identity  of  Romanism  on  the  altar  of  universal 
toleration,  else  he  could  not  have  participated  in  the  stirring  and 
glorious  scenes  enacted  around  him.  Had  he  retained  the  spirit,  if 
he  ever  possessed  it,  that  would  banish  the  Bible  from  the  public 
eye,  he  would  have  solemnly  protested  against  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  at  the  openings  of  the  convention  that  adopted  the  Declar 
ation  of  Independence,  and  if  it  had  been  persisted  in,  he  would  have 
thrown  up  his  seat  and  his  solemn  duties,  and  retired  in  indignation, 
announcing  to  the  astonished  patriots  about  him,  that  he  was  afraid 
to  hear  that  book  read  in  his  presence — that  in  so  doing  he  would  be 
disobeying  the  orders  of  his  ghostly  father ; — it  was  because  Charles 
Carroll  did  not  thus  act,  because  he  repudiated  such  control  of  his 
conscience,  that  he  did  sign  the  immortal  Declaration  of  our  Inde 
pendence,  and  engraved  his  name  upon  a  monument  that  will  cause 
it  to  be  remembered  with  honor  as  long  as  virtue  is  cherished  among 
mankind. 

The  Council  of  Trent  decrees,  "  That  no  Bible  shall  be  held  or  read 
except  by  priests — that  no  Bible  shall  be  sold  without  a  license,  ex 
cept  upon  the  pains  and  penalties  of  that  mortal  sin  that  is  neither 
to  be  forgiven  in  this  world  or  the  next."*  By  the  priests  of  the 

*  See  Father  Paul  Sarpis1  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent. 


THE  BIBLE   THE   CHARTER   OF   LIBERTY.  195 

Romish  Church  it  is,  therefore,  denied  to  their  congregations,  and 
innumerable  instances  have  occurred  of  the  Bible  being  seized  and 
publicly  burned  in  this  country  when  found  in  the  possession  of 
Romanists.  In  Europe,  in  Piedmont  and  Tuscany,  imprisonment  and 
persecution  are  even  now  meted  out  for  such  a  crime. 

Some  years  ago  a  society  termed  the  Christian  Alliance  was  formed 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  object  of  which  was  to  circulate  the 
Bible  without  note  or  comment,  in  the  prevailing  language  in  differ 
ent  Papal  countries.  The  labors  of  this  society  produced  the 
greatest  consternation  at  Rome,  and  in  1844,  Gregory,  the  then 
reigning  Pope,  fulminated  a  bull  against  this  association,  of  which 
we  give  a  single  extract : — 

"  Moreover,  venerable  brothers,  we  recommend  the  utmost  watch 
fulness  over-  the  insidious  measures  and  attempts  of  the  Christian 
Alliance,  to  those  who,  raised  to  the  dignity  of  your  order,  are  called 
to  govern  the  Italian  churches,  or  the  countries  which  Italians  fre 
quent  most  commonly,  especially  the  frontiers,  and  parts  whence 
travellers  enter  Italy.  As  these  are  the  points  on  which  the  secta 
rians  have  fixed  to  commence  the  realization  of  their  projects,  it  is 
highly  necessary  that  the  bishops  of  those  places  should  mutually 
assist  each  other  zealously  and  faithfully,  in  order,  with  the  aid  of 
God,  to  discover  and  prevent  their  machinations. 

"  Let  us  not  doubt  but  your  exertions,  added  to  our  own,  will  be 
seconded  by  the  civil  authorities,  and  especially  by  most  influential 
sovereigns  of  Italy,  no  less  by  reason  of  their  favorable  regard  for 
the  Papal  religion,  than  that  they  plainly  perceive  how  much  it 
concerns  them  to  prostrate  these  sectarian  combinations.  Indeed,  it 
is  most  evident  from  past  experience,  that  there  are  no  means  more 
certain  of  rendering  the  people  disobedient  to  their  princes  than  ren 
dering  them  indifferent  to  religion,  under  the  mask  of  religious 
liberty.  The  members  of  the  Christian  Alliance  do  not  conceal  this 
fact  from  themselves,  although  they  declare  that  they  are  far  from 
wishing  to  excite  disorder ;  but  they  notwithstanding  avow  that,  once 
liberty  of  interpretation  attained,  and  with  it  what  they  term  liberty 


196  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

of  conscience  among  Italians,  these  last  will  naturally  soon  acquire 
political  liberty." 

Here  is  palpably  revealed  the  natural  connection  and  alliance  be 
tween  the  political  despotism  of  the  Papal  See,  and  the  oppressors  of 
the  people  of  Europe.  The  only  object  of  the  Christian  Alliance  was 
to  give  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  the  people  of  Italy.  How  quick  it 
excited  the  fears  of  the  Pope,  how  conscious  was  the  prevailing 
power  at  Rome,  that  wherever  the  light  and  power  of  that  volume 
was  admitted,  that  religious  liberty,  and  rebellion  against  the  assump 
tions  of  crafty  priests,  would  follow,  that  the  civil  and  religious 
despots  were  the  natural  enemies  of  the  Bible,  and  hence  was  invoked 
the  aid  of  those  hated  enemies  of  mankind,  the  ruling  sovereigns,  to 
aid  in  the  work  of  suppressing  the  sacred  volume. 

The  last  official  act  known  to  the  world  of  Gregory  XVI.  was 
dated  May  8th,  1844,  in  which  for  the  second  time  he  expresses  his 
dread  of  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures.  With  more  elaboration 
than  is  usual  in  such  documents,  the  Pope  points  out  all  the  dreaded 
evils,  and  renews  his  orders  to  his  subordinates,  to  assist  each  other 
in  zealously  carrying  out  his  decrees.  Among  other  things  his  Holi 
ness  says, — 

"  Subsequently,  when  heretics  still  persisted  in  their  frauds,  it  be 
came  necessary  for  Benedict  XIV.  to  superadd  the  injunction  that  no 
versions  whatever  (of  the  Bible)  should  be  suffered  to  be  read  but 
those  which  should  be  approved  of  by  the  Holy  See,  accompanied  by 
notes  derived  from  the  writings  of  the  Holy  Fathers,  or  other  learned 
Catholic  authors." 

"  As  for  yourselves,  my  venerable  brethren,  called  as  you  are  to 
divide  our  solicitude,  we  recommend  you  earnestly  in  the  Lord,  to 
announce  and  proclaim,  in  convenient  time  and  place,  to  the  people 
confided  to  your  care,  these  apostolical  orders,  and  to  labor  carefully  to 
separate  the  faithful  sheep  from  contagion  of  the  Christian  Alliance, 
from  those  who  have  become  its  auxiliaries,  no  less  than  those  who 
belong  to  other  Bible  societies,  and  from  all  who  have  any  communi 
cation  with  them.  You  are  consequently  enjoinod  to  remove  from 


THE   BIBLE   THE   CHARTER  OF   LIBERTY.  197 

the  hands  of  the  faithful  alike  the  Bibles  in  the  vulgar  tongue  which 
may  have  been  printed  contraiy  to  the  decrees  above  mentioned  of 
the  sovereign  Pontiffs,  and  every  book  proscribed  and  condemned, 
and  see  that  they  learn,  through  your  admonition  and  authority,  what 
passages  are  salutary,  and  what  pernicious  and  mortal.  Watch 
.  attentively  over  those  who  are  appointed  to  expound  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures,  to  see  that  they  acquit  themselves  faithfully  according  to  the 
capacity  of  their  hearers,  and  that  they  dare  not,  under  any  pretext 
whatever,  interpret  or  explain  the  holy  pages  contrary  to  the  tradition 
of  the  Holy  Fathers,  and  to  the  service  of  the  Catholic  Church." 

"  Let  me  know,  then,  the  enormity  of  the  sin  against  God  and  his 
Church  which  they  are  guilty  of  who  dare  associate  themselves  with 
any  of  these  societies,  or  abet  them  in  any  way.  Moreover,  we  con 
firm  and  renew  the  decrees  recited  above,  delivered  in  former  times  by 
apostolic  authority,  against  the  publication,  distribution,  reading,  and 
possession  of  books  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  translated  into  the  vulgar 
tongue." 

Without  commenting  upon  the  spectacle  here  exhibited,  of  the 
assumed  infallible  head  of  the  true  Church  denying  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures  to  the  mass  of  mankind,  or  attempting  iu  any  way  to  dispute 
the  authority  for  so  doing,  every  true  American,  whatever  may  be  his 
creed,  must  ask  the  question,  "  Could  our  peculiar  institutions  flourish 
under  such  a  system  ?  and  are  those  persons,  in  this  country  or  Eu 
rope,  proper  citizens  for  a  republic,  who  will  submit  to  such  dicta 
tion  ?"  It  cannot  be  disguised,  that  liberal  principles,  and  the  behests 
of  the  Pope,  here  meet  in  eternal  opposition.  One  or  the  other  power 
must  give  way.  On  the  continent  of  Europe,  wherever  Romanism 
has  undisputed  sway,  the  Bible  is  indeed  a  proscribed  book.  In 
many  Italian  states,  and  almost  under  the  very  shadow  of  the  dome 
ot  St.  Peter's,  families  are  imprisoned  for  being  found  with  the  sacred 
volume  in  their  possession ;  delicate  women  are  incarcerated  in  dun 
geons,  and  their  husbands  and  brothers  consigned  to  the  lingering 
death  of  the  galleys. 

A  few  examples  of  Bible  burning  have  been  afforded  even  in  our 


198  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

glorious  country,  and  "the  faithful"  have  quietly  yielded  up  the 
volume,  to  be  consigned  by  the  Jesuit  to  the  flames.  Thanks  to  our 
institutions  no  civil  punishment  has  followed,  but  what  have  been  the 
more  terrible  denunciations  of  the  Priest  upon  the  guilty  the  world 
will  never  know.  This  is  the  spirit  that  the  American  wars  against — 
he  cannot  find  it  sanctioned  by  any  commendable  toleration,  because 
it  is  sanctioning  wrong.  lie  cannot  believe  it  to  be  in  accordance 
with  any  religious  sentiment,  for  the  conscience  enlightened  by  reason 
revolts  at  such  tyranny — the  question  then  again  recurs,  Are  indi 
viduals  capable  of  self-government  who  will  yield  up  unresistingly, 
and  from  any  plea,  or  by  the  dictation  of  any  power,  this  most  sacred 
right  of  reading,  not  only  the  Holy  Scriptures,  but  any  book  of  morals 
that  has  made  its  impress  upon  the  world. 

The  Sacred  Scriptures  are  not  only  the  Divine  revelation  of  a 
life  to  come,  and  the  Guide  for  the  life  present,  but  also  the  great 
Conservator  of  morals,  and  the  basis  of  all  true  social  virtue  and 
happiness.  In  the  quaint  words  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  the  Bible  is  "  the 
ligature  of  souls,  and  the  great  instrument  of  the  conservation  of 
bodies  politic."  Montesquieu  justly  observes,  that  "  the  principles  of 
Christianity  deeply  engraven  in  the  heart,  would  be  infinitely  more 
powerful  than  the  false  honor  of  monarchies,  the  human  virtues  of 
republics,  or  the  servile  fears  of  despotic  states."  We  know,  and, 
what  is  better,  we  feel  inwardly  that  religion  is  the  basis  of  civil 
society,  and  the  source  of  all  good  and  of  all  comfort.*  All  history 
conclusively  proves,  that  wherever  the  Bible  wras  possessed  by  the 
people,  virtue  and  civilization  advanced; — wherever  it  was  not,  the 
converse  was  no  less  true.  A  spurious  civilization  may  exist  without 
the  faith  of  Christianity,  but  it  is  a  civilization  that  opposes  no  check 
to  idolatrous  superstition  and  cruelty,  and  the  most  flagrant  immoral 
ities  and  crimes. 

The  moral  effects  of  the  Bible  are  illustrated  in  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  race ;  since  their  superiority  over  the  heathen  nations  is  mainly 

*  Burke. 


THE   BIBLE   THE   CHARTER   OF   LIBERTY.  199 

to  be  ascribed  to  their  possession  of  the  Divine  Oracles.  Since  the 
introduction  of  Christianity,  the  influence  of  its  Divine  precepts  on 
society  is  still  more  marked,  in  mitigating  the  honors  of  war,  in  sup 
pressing  the  iniquitous  and  sanguinary  rites  of  heathenism,  and  the 
gladiatorial  combats,  which,  according  to  Lipsius,  sometimes  cost 
Europe  from  twenty  thousand  to  thirty  thousand  lives  in  a  month. 

But  the  influence  of  the  Bible  is  to  be  sought  for,  not  so  much  in 
the  councils  of  princes,  as  in  the  debates  or  resolutions  of  popular 
assemblies,  in  the  conduct  of  governments  towards  their  subjects,  or 
of  states  and  sovereigns  towards  one  another,  of  conquerors  at  the 
head  of  their  armies,  or  of  parties  intriguing  for  power  at  home 
(topics  which  almost  alone  occupy  the  attention,  and  fill  the  pages 
of  history),  as  in  the  silent  course  of  private  and  domestic  life,  and 
in  the  yet  more  private  regulations  of  the  heart.*  Here  have  ever 
been  its  great  triumphs.  •  The  fact  of  its  inculcating  self-government 
renders  the  Bible  the  great  essential  in  a  state  where  the  people  are 
invested  with  the  sovereign  power. 

The  presence  of  the  Divine  Oracles  sanctified  the  councils  of  our 
patriot  fathers  alike  in  times  of  war  and  peace.  It  was  to  the  Bible  that 
they  made  their  appeal  in  all  emergencies,  in  the  tented  field  and  in 
the  legislative  hall.  It  was  to  this  fact  that  we  may  ascribe  the  noble 
testimony  of  history,  which  asserts  that  our  Revolutionary  struggle 
was  unstained  by  a  single  crime.  It  was  to  the  same  source  that  we 
trace  the  pure  patriotism,  and  self-sacrificing  heroism  and  faith  of  the 
revered  founders  of  our  free  institutions ;  and  it  is  in  a  like  jealous 
regard  and  cherishing  love  for  the  Bible,  as  our  national  text-book  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  as  well  as  of  Christian  faith,  that  AVC  con 
fidently  rest  all  our  hope  for  the  prosperity  and  perpetuity  of  our 
great  Republic.  Shall  we  lightly  esteem  so  precious  a  boon  ?  Shall 
we  ever  forget  that  it  comes  to  us  with  the  sacred  insignia  of  Divinity, 
baptized  with  the  blood  of  ancient  saints  and  worthies,  and  all  fragrant 
with  celestial  Truth  ?  Shall  we  forget  that  it  has  passed  through  the 

*  Paley's  Evidences. 


200  VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

fires  of  persecution  all  unscathed,  and  that  its  soul-entrancing  truths 
sustained  confessors  and  martyrs'  who  suffered  to  the  death  to  transmit 
to  us,  their  descendants,  the  inestimable  treasure  ?  Can  we  be  free, 
we  would  again  ask,  if  we  suffer  ourselves  to  be  deprived  of  the 
Scriptures  ?  and  are  those  friends  of  liberty  and  free  institutions  who 
would  proscribe  their  circulation  among  the  people  ? 


THE  PRINCIPLES  AND  PERILS  OF  OUR  COMMON 
EDUCATION. 

Education  is  the  cheap  defence  of  nations." — EDMCXD  BURKE.  * 

THE  wisest  must  govern.  This  truth  has  been  the  basis  of  all  the 
governments  in  the  world,  from  the  Patriarchs  to  the  Presidents.  It 
is  a  text  upon  which  a  whole  circle  of  sermons  has  been  preached. 
It  has  supplied  the  arguments  of  the  absurd  monarchist,  Filmer ;  the 
aristocratical  aspirations  of  Thomas  Carlyle ;  of  the  ravings  and  rev 
eries  of  all  the  red  republicans  in  the  world.  In  the  rude  times, 
when  men  were  gathered  into  tribes,  the  old  men,  as  wisest,  ruled  the 
band  ;  not  very  stringently,  but  with  all  the  authority  of  the  tribe. 
This  primitive  mode  of  governing  has  descended  down,  among  sav 
ages,  to  the  Wittenagemote  ("  witty  men's  meet,"  "  wise  men's  meet 
ing")  of  the  Saxons,  and  to  our  Indian  contemporaries. 

Monarchs,  whether  autocratic  or  constitutional,  usurping  or  heredi 
tary,  have  asserted  the  same  principle.  Great  rulers,  such  as  Julius 
Caesar,  Oliver  Cromwell,  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who  grasped  su 
preme  power  because  they  knew  they  could  use  it ;  and  petty  tyrants, 
who  abused  it  because  the  people  were  supine  and  ignorant,  have 
asserted  the  same  claim — the  right  of  the  wisest  to  govern. 

The  feudal  governments  of  Europe  are  set  on  a  like  foundation. 
The  wealthy  and  (so-called)  noble  aristocracy — whose  power,  and 
whose  intention  to  keep  it,  are  alike  and  almost  equally  represented 
by  Alexander  the  Autocrat,  and  Victoria  the  constitutional  Queen — 
make  appeal  to  this  principle  in  their  very  name.  An  "Aristocracy" 
is,  literally,  a  Best  Government — a  Government  by  the  Wisest. 


202  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

"Not  that  these  rulers  have  always  deliberately  claimed  that  they, 
individually,  were  wisest  among  men  ;  but  they  have  done  it  for  them 
selves  as  officers,  in  their  formal  documents.  They  say,  "  In  our  wis 
dom  ;"  and,  "  Of  our  free  grace  and  mere  motion,"  and  such  things. 
These  forms  at  least  defer  to  the  common  consent  of  mankind  that 
the  \visest  ought  to  govern,  by  taking  the  name  of  wisdom ;  just  as 
vice  acknowledges  the  supremacy  of  virtue,  by  pretending  to  be  virtue. 
Republics — Greek,  Italian,  Swiss,  German,  French,  American — have 
alike  proclaimed  the  same  universal  maxim,  with  so  loud  a  voice  that 
we  need  not  stop  to  repeat  their  words. 

The  only  difference  amongst  all  these  different  rulers  has  been  in 
their  answers  to  the  question,  Who  are  the  wisest  ?  The  king,  the 
emperor,  the  holy  czar — say  the  monarchists.  The  king  and  his 
nobles — say  the  feudalists.  The  nobles,  said  the  oligarchic  Venetians. 
The  people  said,  and  still  say — The  people.  So  say  we.  But  pre 
cisely  at  this  point  is  a  common  and  enormous  omission.  "The 
people  ought  to  govern,"  is  the  loud  cry  of  all  our  politicians.  But 
there  can  be  no  reason  why  they  ought  to  govern,  unless  that  they 
are  wisest — because  they  are  wise  enough  to  govern.  It  is  with  the 
nation  as  it  is  with  the  individual.  When  a  man  is  old  enough, 
knows  enough,  to  take  care  of  himself,  then  he  may  take  care  of 
himself.  Until  that  time,  he  is  under  more  or  less  restraint.  And  a 
nation  not  wise  enough  to  govern  itself,  will  as  surely  work  out  its 
own  destruction,  as  an  inexperienced  boy  in  the  sole  charge  of  a 
great  estate  wrould  unwisely  waste  and  lose  it. 

Our  politicians  happen  in  fact  to  be  right.  But  that  is  only  because 
our  people  have  been  wise  enough  to  govern.  The  presumption  has 
always  been,  that  each  voter  has  been  intelligent  enough  and  upright 
enough  to  be  intrusted  with  the  power.  The  exceptions  have  been 
so  few  as  to  serve  only  to  prove  the  rule.  But  of  late  years,  tlu- 
exceptions  have  increased  so  rapidly,  especially  by  immigration  ol 
ignorant  and  immoral  foreigners,  that  this  presumption  of  intelli 
gence  can  hardly  any  longer  be  said  to  exist.  The  politicians  con 
tinue  to  cry,  "  Let  the  people  govern  !"  But  the  trouble  is  not  now 


PRINCIPLES   OF   OUR   COMMON   EDUCATION.  203 

lest  the  people  shall  govern.  That  they  will  always  do.  They  will 
never,  in  this  country,  suffer  the  sceptre  to  pass  out  of  their  hands. 
But  the  trouble  now  is,  to  keep  them  wise  enough  to  govern  ivell. 
They  are  not  in  the  case  of  the  boy  who  is  not  old  enough  to  manage 
his  estate ;  but  they  are  in  the  case  of  the  man  who  is  in  danger  of 
ruining  his  estate  by  falling  into  evil  courses. 

The  American  Kepublican  theory  is  not  merely  that  the  people 
should  govern ;  it  is,  first,  that  the  people  are  the  ivisest ;  and  second, 
and  only  by  virtue  of  this  wisdom,  comes  the  other  truth  which  we 
hear  so  often,  The  people  must  govern. 

For  abundant  proof  of  our  position,  let  us  look  to  the  practice  and 
precepts  of  those  founders  of  the  Union  and  fathers  of  American  lib 
erty — the  first  settlers  of  the  thirteen  colonies.  In  the  early  times  of 
the  various  colonial  commonwealths,  only  members  of  churches  were 
admitted,  in  some  of  them,  to  the  exercise  of  the  electoral  franchise, 
for  the  declared  reason  that  the  body  of  the  people  ought  to  consist 
of  honest  and  good  men.  Decent  and  refutable  conduct  as  members 
of  society  was  also  a  recognized  requisite  of  those  admitted  to  vote. 
The  written  constitutions,  and  the  whole  spirit  of  the  frame  of  gov 
ernment  of  all  the  early  colonies,  is  conclusively  in  point.  The 
strong,  clear-minded  men  who  established  them,  saw  plainly  the  abso 
lute  necessity  of  admitting  none  to  the  freeman's  privilege  of  govern 
ing  the  State,  except  such  as  were  duly  qualified  in  intellect  and 
morals  for  that  high  responsibility.  They  set  their  standard  of  quali 
fication  higher  than  would  now  be  endured.  They  required,  until 
public  sentiment  compelled  a  change,  both  the  ownership  of  prop 
erty,  that  the  voter  might  the  more  sensibly  feel  the  effects  of  his 
own  governing,  and  church-membership,  that  he  might  be  approved 
a  man  of  pure  heart  and  life,  and  as  one  not  about  to  endanger  their 
peculiar  semi-theocratic  institutions.  That  their  application  of  the 
principle  was  extreme  and  mistaken,  may  be  allowed ;  but  the  demon 
stration  is  not  less  conclusive,  but  rather  more  so,  of  the  strength  and 
clearness  of  their  conviction  that  only  safe  men — well-qualified  men — 
should  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  State. 


204  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

X\  Since  this  is  our  theory,  and  has  been  our  practice,  as  it  ought  to 
be,  is  in  some  measure,  and  as  we  hope  it  will  be  again,  evidently  it 
is  the  very  profoundest  and  most  absolute  necessity  of  the  State,  if  it 
desires  to  be  a  righteous,  prosperous,  and  happy  State,  to  foresee  its 
future,  and  to  secure  to  itself  the  means  of  a  prosperous  and  .progres 
sive  life,  by  raising  up  well-trained  citizens  for  the  next  generation. 
The  nation,  during  one  generationvmust  prepare  the  next;  just  as  a 
provident  man  of  business  during  one  season  is  making  arrange 
ments  for  his  investments  and  enterprises  during  the  next ;  or  as  a 
farmer,  while  cultivating  one  crop,  makes  that  crop  help  prepare  for 
the  next,  and  thus  preserves  and  improves  the  value  and  productive 
power  of  his  land. 

The  children  of  the  present  age  are  the  nation  of  the  future,  and 
properly  educating  them  for  wise  and  right  action  as  men,  is  not  only 
the  very  greatest  responsibility  of  our  adult  generation,  but  it  i.s  also 
a  necessity  as  plain  and  indispensable  as  that  a  man  should  preserve 
his  life  now,  in  order  to  be  alive  next  year.  The  training  of  the 
children  is  the  whole  basis  of  our  republic ;  the  one  thing  needful, 
without  which  all  our  other  pains  and  trouble  for  perpetuating  our 
Union  must  come  to  naught;  the  primary  source  and  condition  of 
all  that  is  desirable  in  our  peculiar  national  life,  if  any  such  we 
have. 

The  American  common -school  education  is  the  essential  condition 
of  all  that  is  valuable  in  our  American  citizenship  and  polity.  It 
is  consistent  with  them  ;  a  part  of  the  same  machine — as  one  par 
ticular  wheel  is  of  its  own  engine,  and  of  no  other.  It  dilK.-rs  from 
other  common-school  educations,  precisely  as  our  people  differ  from 
other  people,  and  our  institutions  from  other  institutions.  Ameri 
can  school  education,  as  fostered  and  enforced  by  our  government,  i? 
intended  to  train  citizens  fit  to  uphold  our  State ;  men  wise  enough 
to  govern.  They  must  be  intelligent;  possessed  of  minds  free,  active, 
stored  with  the  fundamentals  of  knowledge,  and  with  as  much  as 
possible  of  the  superstructure.  Yet  they  must  be  so  trained,  morally 
-ind  religiously,  as  to  keep  their  intellects  and  their  passions  subject 


PRINCIPLES   OF   OUK   COMMON   EDUCATION.  205 

to  their  regard  for  right,  Christianity,  and  the  law.*  They  need  the 
widest  freedom,  that  they  may  manage  and  discuss  their  political 
business  with  the  confident  courage  which  distinguished  the  founders 
of  the  republic.  They  need  the  utmost  wisdom,  that  they  may  make 
few  mistakes  themselves,  and  may  profit  by  the  examples  of  others. 
They  need  the  most  thorough  and  deeply-founded  conviction  of  the 
supremacy  of  God  and  the  sanctity  of  His  great  laws,  and  of  the 
moral  and  human  laws  based  thereon,  in  order  that  they  may  not 
pass  from  freedom  to  riot ;  that  their  own  stability  as  law-abiding, 
honest,  and  upright  citizens  may  be  sufficient  to  guard  and  guide 
them  in  the  wide  freedom  of  our  constitution,  and  to  bring  them  to 
the  strenuous  support  of  that  constitution  when  attacked  or  violated 
by  the  ignorant  or  the  wicked. 

That  such  is  the  true  relation  of  our  common-school  training  to  the 
State,  seems  proved  by  the  mere  statement  of  the  case.  That  such 
was  in  fact  its  scope  and  purpose,  and  that  they  have  ever  been  so 
regarded  by  our  wisest  men,  needs  little  proof.  The  histories  of  the 
early  settlements,  and  the  documentary  evidence  of  their  records,  are 
alike  conclusive  of  the  question.  The  fact  is  notorious,  that  the  edu 
cation  of  the  young  engaged  a  very  large  share  of  the  solicitude  of 
the  first  Americans.  The  Virginians  established,  in  1621,  the  first  free 
school  in  America.  The  first  in  Boston  was  set  up  in  1635. 

It  is  repeatedly  declared  in  the  records  of  the  colonies,  that  it  is  the 
legal  duty  of  all  parents  and  guardians  to  give  religious  and  other 
instruction  to  the  children  under  their  care,  and  to  train  them  up  in 
some  learned  profession  or  other  employment  profitable  for  themselves 
and  the  commonwealth.  In  1642,  it  was  declared,  by  solemn  enact 
ment,  that  all  children  must  be  educated,  and  that  it  was  "  barbarism" 
not  to  have  a  knowledge  of  the  principal  laws  of  the  State. 

Indeed,  recognition  of  the  absolute  and  fundamental  importance 
of  education,  enforced  and  paid  for  by  the  State,  raising  the  scholar 
to  that  standard  of  moral  and  intellectual  ability  and  acquirement 

*  For  relation  of  Christianity  to  the  State,  see  Girard  will  case.  Also,  Web 
ster's  Works,  Vol.  VI.  p.  133,  &c. 

10 


206  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

which  prepare  him  for  safe  and  reliable  citizenship,  are  conclusively 
evident  in  the  earliest  legislative  records  of  the  New  England  States. 
The  same  solemn  recognition  is  embodied,  in  one  form  or  another, 
in  all  the  State  constitutions,  from  Maine  to  California,  at  this  day. 
A  monument  of  the  same  belief  also  remains,  in  the  power  which 
has  from  the  beginning  been  granted  to  the  selectmen,  of  appren 
ticing,  for  labor  and  education,  all  children  neglected  by  their  parents 
or  guardians.  This  regulation  has,  most  unfortunately,  fallen  into 
very  general  disuse ;  but  its  importance  and  meaning  are  none  the 
less  evident, 

Such  is  our  American  idea  of  common  education :  a  careful  and 
thorough  training  for  all  purposes  of  government  and  self-govern 
ment,  A  comparison  with  it  of  the  character  of  European  education, 
and  of  its  results  upon  the  population  subjected  to  it,  will  serve  to 
exhibit  contrasts  seldom  considered,  but  extremely  important. 

The  greatest  difference  between  the  two  systems  arises  from  the 
difference  in  their  objects.  Americans  are  free,  and  the  freedom  of 
our  American  law  must  be  made  up  for  by  a  corresponding  increase 
in  the  exercise  of  self-control  by  the  individual.  Therefore,  it  is  a 
principal  and  direct  object  of  our  education,  to  train  our  youth  to 
independent  and  careful  thought.  They  think  on  public  business, 
and  manage  public  business — an  employment  which  demands  the 
widest  intelligence.  They  are  trained  to  feel  it  not  only  a  privilege, 
but  a  duty,  to  take  a  direct  and  active  interest  in  the  government  of 
their  country. 

But  it  is  an  equally  direct  object  of  the  European  educational 
systems — more  especially  of  the  Continental,  but  measurably  also  of 
the  English  system — to  prevent  the  people  from  examining  the  gov 
ernment  or  its  measures,  or  from  concerning  themselves  at  all  with 
them.  The  Prussian  school-system — the  most  liberal  on  the  Conti 
nent — has  of  late  years  been  found  too  liberal  for  the  purposes  of  the 
Government,  and  has  been  gradually  shorn  of  its  best  features,  until 
now  it  is,  like  all  the  rest,  merely  an  adjunct  of  despotic  power ;  a 
great  machine,  from  which  are  turned  out  ready-made  subjects — not 


PRINCIPLES   OF   OUR   COMMON   EDUCATION.  207 

ready-made  men.  The  reading-books  of  the  schools  of  the  Austrian 
dominions  are  arranged  to  teach  submission  to  tyranny.  In  them 
the  children  read,  in  so  many  words,  that  subjects  must  behave 
towards  their  sovereign  like  faithful  slaves  towards  their  master,  be 
cause  their  sovereign  is  their  master,  and  has  power  over  their  prop 
erty  as  well  as  over  their  lives.  Intelligent  consideration  of  political 
matters,  or  any  consideration  of  them,  would  shake  the  seats  of  the 
kings ;  and  for  self-preservation's  sake,  therefore,  they  carefully  keep 
such  matter  of  investigation  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  peo 
ple's  hands.  More  than  that :  lest  they  acquire  too  free  a  habit  of 
thought  elsewhere,  they  not  only  prohibit  a  direct  training  for  the 
duty  and  habit  of  governing,  but  they  prevent  the  study  in  a  free 
manner  of  any  thing  else.  Lest  scholars  should  learn  the  intelligent 
study  of  politics,  they  are  prevented  from  the  intelligent  study  of  any 
thing.  They  are  not  taught  to  think  for  themselves  for  their  own 
good,  but  only  to  believe  what  is  taught  them,  in  order  to  subserve 
the  bad  purposes  of  others.  Intellectual  debasement  always  brings 
moral  and  social  debasement  along  with  it.  The  victims  of  this  edu 
cation  for  ignorance  are  not  only  miserably  besotted  in  mind,  but 
brutishly  savage  and  heathenish  in  manners.  Their  whole  character 
is  the  natural  consequence  of  such  training  in  youth.  Mutual  confi 
dence  and  helpfulness,  the  reliance  of  our  citizens  upon  the  kindness 
and  honesty  of  others,  the  social  friendship  and  good  fellowship  which 
are  the  very  texture  of  so  much  of  our  daily  life,  are  things  unknown 
in  Europe,  and  strange  and  incomprehensible  to  Europeans  travelling 
ere. 

Europe,  everybody  distrusts  everybody.  It  was  a  principal 
reason  for  the  transitory  insecurity  of  the  many  constitutional  govern 
ments  established  in  Germany  and  elsewhere,  in  the  years  1848-50, 
that,  of  the  numerous  little  cliques  of  politicians  and  theorists  who 
were  at  work,  none  trusted  any  other ;  nor  did  any  man  trust  his 
fellow.  There  is  none  of  that  feeling  which  causes  our  minorities 
to  submit  peacefully  to  the  measures  of  the  majority,  and  even  to 
assist,  in  good  faith,  their  support  and  full  accomplishment.  A  Eu- 


208  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

ropean  nation  would  almost  necessarily  pass  from  the  excitement  of 
our  Presidential  elections,  into  an  armed  revolution.  The  eagerness 
with  which  the  Irish  and  Germans  gather  into  exclusively  national 
armed  bands  in  this  country,  their  promptness  in  rising  into  mo  us, 
their  brutal  fights  among  themselves,  are  plain  indications  of  the  pas 
sions  which  boil  in  their  minds,  very  near  to  overflowing. 
Thus  far  it  has  been  shown : 

1.  How  our  peculiar  American  education  is  the  basis  of  our  pecu 
liar  American  nationality  and  freedom. 

2.  How  the  aims  of  American  education  and  European  education 
are  diametrically  opposite. 

It  remains  to  consider : 

1.  What  the  actual  influence  of  foreign   population  is  upon  0111 
schools;  and, 

2.  What  measures  are  needed  to  secure  our  schools  in  their  propel 
condition. 

1.  The  actual  influence  of  foreign  population  upon  our  schools. 

Considering  the  character  of  most  European  training,  and  its  influ 
ence  upon  the  minds  of  its  victims ;  considering  also  their  besotted 
subservience  to  their  Romish  priests,  or  else  the  rampant  infidelity  and 
lawless,  riotous,  and  licentious  tendencies  of  those  not  so  subservient, 
it  is  easy  to  see  how  little  community  of  thought  and  feeling  can  sub 
sist  between  the  two  classes  of  people,  European  and  American.  The 
Europeans  are  studiously  kept  ignorant  and  servile,  and  are  deformed 
with  the  vices  which  accompany  servile  ignorance.  They  are  bigoted, 
false,  selfish,  cunning,  and  revengeful.  They  are  governed  by  fear ; 
and,  like  passionate  children,  they  seize  every  occasion  to  violate  la\\> 
which  are  only  kept  over  them  by  force,  and  to  indulge  the  passion- 
which  are  only  subdued  by  terror.  How  can  such  men  coalesce  will; 
our  law-making,  law-abiding,  and  self-controlling  men  ?  Our  laws  arc 
so  free  that  only  such  men  as  ours  can  properly  use  or  safely  eudur< 
their  freedom.  Our  thoughtful  people  see  that  their  own  self-con 
trol  must  make  up  for  the  absence  of  stringent  laws,  a  standing  army. 
and  the  heavy  pressure  from  above  of  despotism  and  an  armed  am! 


PRINCIPLES  OF  OUR  COMMON   EDUCATION.  209 

disciplined  aristocracy.  Liberal  laws,  and  a  correspondingly  careful 
self-government  by  the  individual,  are  the  distinguishing  dignity  and 
prerogative  of  our  freemen.  But  the  very  freedom  which  we  use  to 
increase  our  moral  power  of  governing  ourselves,  the  foreigner  seizes 
as  an  opportunity  to  indulge  his  ingrained  antipathy  to  law,  his  fero 
city,  and  his  appetites.  Our  population  is  so  intelligent  as  to  recognize 
the  necessity  of  a  universal  Christian  and  democratic  education,  with 
out  regard  to  sects.  The  foreigner,  under  the  control  of  Romish 
priests,  regards  it  even  as  his  duty,  to  insist  upon  the  exclusive  propa 
gation,  in  all  schools  where  he  can  secure  it,  of  his  special  sectarian 
ism,  or  his  own  atheism,  if  he  has  renounced  the  Romish  Church. 

The  character  of  the  actual  educational  operations  of  our  foreign 
population  has,  in  fact,  been  precisely  such  as  we  have  shown  that  it 
must  be.  In  Detroit,  in  Cincinnati,  in  New  York  city — wherever  they 
could  muster  strength  enough  to  hope  for  success — they  have  begged, 
bargained,  and  bullied  to  get  their  hands  upon  the  money  of  the 
State,  for  the  propagation  of  their  religious  dogmas.  Failing  in  that, 
they  have,  by  the  like  means,  attempted  to  destroy  in  our  national 
schools  their  national  significance  and  value,  by  driving  out  from 
them  all  religious  instruction  or  influence.  The  demands  of  the  athe 
istical  Germans  have  been  of  a  similar  character.  More  than  one 
meeting  of  these  people  has  formally  resolved  that  the  legal  enforce 
ment  of  the  observance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and  the  giving  of 
any  religious  instruction  in  schools,  ought  to  cease ;  and  with  besotted 
blindness,  while  making  these  absurd  demands,  they  have  also  called 
upon  the  Government  to  provide  everybody  with  property  and  labor. 
This  is  a  like  treachery  with  that  of  those  villains  who  ask  a  night's 
lodging,  and  then  .set  fire  to  the  house,  for  the  sake  of  plunder. 

The  liberal  grants  by  the  British  government  to  the  College  of 
Maynooth,  while  they  have  had  no  effect  in  mollifying  the  Irish 
priests'  opposition  to  popular  education  in  Ireland,  have  acted  as  a 
stimulus  to  the  preparation  of  Jesuit  priests  for  this  country,  who, 
headed  by  Bishop  Hughes  and  his  confederates,  are,  as  we  all  know, 
constantly  interfering  with  the  operation  of  our  school-system,  and 


210  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

endeavoring,  under  the  plea  of  religious  scruples,  to  secularize  then: 
and  destroy  their  usefulness.  We  also  suffer  from  the  outside  influ 
ence  of  Austria,  where,  in  1829,  was  instituted  "  the  Leopold  Founda 
tion,"  the  direct  object  of  which  was  to  supply  money  for  the  suppor 
of  foreign  teachers  for  American  children.  From  this  propagandis: 
society  have  been  received  the  immense  sums  of  money  that  hav< 
been  paid  for  Romanist  teachers,  and  for  schoolhouses,  in  communities 
entirely  Protestant;  and  to  Austria  we  must  look  for  the  solution  o' 
the  oft-repeated  question  among  our  Protestant  rural  populations. 
"How  do  the  Romanists  manage  to  get  funds  to  pay  for  their  build 
ings  and-  support  their  priests  ?" 

What  the  result  of  the  success  of  this  speckled  army  of  disorgan- 
izers  and  bigots  would  be,  it  requires  no  prophet  to  foretell.  Ever1' 
professedly  religious  body,  would  grasp  at  the  State  funds  with  th •*. 
intensely  bitter,  selfish,  and  spiteful  rivalry  of  sectarian  quarreled  . 
The  strongest  would  snatch  the  most,  and  would  try  to  secure  al  . 
American  free  common-school  education — that  invaluable  institution 
which  has  been,  and  is,  the  life-blood  of  the  Union,  the  nucleus  and 
source  of  all  our  liberty  and  all  our  happiness — would  be  bandied 
about,  like  a  bone  in  a  pack  of  snarling  curs.  The  keystone  of  tho 
State  would  be  knocked  out  of  the  arch;  and  the  solid  architecture 
of  the  iron  men  who  founded  our  commonwealth  would  be  demol 
ished,  to  make  room  for  the  crude  fancies  and  foggy  dreams  of  infi 
del  German  metaphysicians — the  most  visionary. and  unpractical  i  f 
men — or  for  the  cunning  machineries  of  a  subtle  priesthood,  striving 
to  rear  the  Inquisition  and  convents  of  the  Romish  Church  on  tl:  : 
ruins  of  our  State.  At  the  very  best,  our  young  men  and  voting  \v<  - 
men  would  have  passed  the  forming  years  of  their  lives  in  a  disci 
pline  calculated  to  develop  intellect,  but  to  smother  morals  and  i<  - 
gion  together.  All  the  strength  of  our  republic  would  be  sapp<  . 
Like  the  image  in  Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  whose  feet  were  part  "f 
iron  and  part  of  clay,  we  should  totter  upon  a  failing  and  incongruous 
basis.  The  first  stone  thrown  at  us,  would  prostrate  our  country  ;  i 
irremediable  ruin. 


PRINCIPLES   OF   OUR   COMMON   EDUCATION.  211 

2.  What  measures  are  needed  in  order  to  preserve  our  schools  in 
(heir  proper  condition  ? 

Only  the  religious  belief  underlying  and  interweaving  all  the 
thoughts  and  habits  of  our  people,  co-operating  with  intellectual  ele 
vation  and  habits  politically  discreet,  have  held  us  together  hitherto. 
The  elements  of  disunion  are  to-day  fermenting  more  deeply  and  dan 
gerously  than.  ever.  Questions  of  policy,  and  of  sectional  prejudice, 
have  agitated  the  nation  quite  enough  for  its  health.  If  these  ques 
tions  are  to  be  determined  without  anv  other  judges  than  cunninsc 

•s  J          O  O 

intellect  and  unbridled  passion,  the  death  of  our  Union  is  at  hand. 
If  they  are  to  be  determined  by  men  believing  and  seeking  to  prac 
tice  right  and  justice,  the  Union  may  yet  endure.  But  if  they  are 
to  be  so  determined,  it  can  be  in  no  other  way  than  by  the  graduates 
of  our  common  schools,  brought  up  under  an  education  based  upon 
Christianity,  and  teaching  freedom  of  body,  heart,  and  mind,  democ 
racy,  and,  above  all,  Christianity,  without  sectarianism. 

There  is  no  doubt  what  is  necessary  for  the  security  of  our  edu 
cation  and  of  our  country.  It  is  high  time  that  the  distinctive 
Christianity  of  our  State  polity,  and  the  Christian  and  political  char 
acter  of  our  public-school  education,  were  re-established  and  restored 
to  their  former  footing,  there  to  be  maintained.  Trial  by  jurv  is  an 
excellent  custom.  Taxation  according  to  representation  is  a  very  true 
principle.  Popular  election  and  the  ballot-box  are  the  best  possible 
mode  of  choosing  rulers.  But  neither  custom,  principle,  nor  ma 
chinery  will  help  a  rotten  nation.  Unless  we  are  able  to  handle  our 
instruments,  we  shall  turn  out  but  a  bungling  piece  of  work.  These 
good  thing-s  are  only  good  by  virtue  of  skill  in  the  hands  of  the  user. 
Unless  we  know  how  to  use  our  blessings  well,  we  shall  turn  them 
h>to  curses.  Our  common  schools  are  the  only  medium  of  the  requi 
site  education.  These  must  be  kept  American  in  spirit,  American  in 
practice,  American  thoroughly,  everywhere  and  always.  The  fanat 
ics  or  the  fools  who  would  destroy  our  liberties  by  ousting  from  our 
schools  the  sources  and  preservatives  of  those  liberties,  with  a  wisdom 
like  that  of  a  man  who  should  burn  his  own  home  over  his  head  to 


212  A   VOICE    TO    AMERICA. 

warm  his  fingers,  must  be  rebuked  and  silenced.  Our  schools  inusi 
remain  public,  free,  democratic,  unsectarian,  and  Christian.  There  is 
room  for  no  hesitation  about  the  matter;  the  case  is  urgent,  As 
surely  as  we  trifle  with  this  blind  giant,  Ignorance,  he  will  repay  us 
with  such  a  destruction  as  Sampson  brought  upon  the  Philistines. 
He  is  even  now  feeling  about  to  grip  the  pillars  of  our  State.  Hav 
ing  them  once  in  his  grasp,  he  will  overthrow  our  national  edifice, 
and  crush  us  among  the  falling  fragments. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant,  comprehensive,  and  useful  measure 
which  could  be  taken  in  order  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes 
set  forth  in  this  chapter,  would  be  an  educational  qualification  for 
voting, — the  requirement  that  every  voter  should  read  intelligibly,  in 
English,  our  State  and  National  Constitutions.  This  single  require 
ment,  of  reading,  is  probably  the  best,  although,  of  course,  very  im 
perfect,  as  all  such  tests  must  be.  Any  such  test  must  be  capable 
of  quick  and  easy  application,  and  must  also  determine  the  possession 
of  an  essential  requisite.  Reading  is  a  ready  mode  of  estimating  a 
man's  literary  acquirements.  A  more  elaborate  inquiry  would  be  so 
tedious  in  the  application,  as  to  be  practically  inconvenient.  Ability 
to  read  can  be  proved  in  a  moment.  And  one  who  can  read,  is  able 
to  use  the  most  extensive  and  important  source  of  information  in  the 
world,  namely,  printed  matter. 

The  enforcement  of  such  a  rule  would  be  attended  with  many 
advantages.  It  would  shut  out  from  the  polls  the  most  degraded 
and  dangerous  class  of  voters,  native  or  foreign.  The  men  who  arc 
most  easily  bought  or  fooled  would  not  then  be  worth  buying.  Im 
migrants  would  be  under  a  strong  temptation  to  learn  English,  and 
to  learn  to  read  ;  of  which  two  attainments  the  first  would  be  of  great 
value  in  assimilating  them  to  our  own  people,  and  the  second  as  ;; 
main  step  forward  in  their  progress  towards  intelligent  freedom.  A 
most  important  benefit,  also,  to  be  derived  from  the  operation  of  this 
educational  test,  would  be  its  effect  upon  our  schools.  The  children 
of  foreigners,  now  the  most  ignorant  and  inaccessible  of  our  youthful 
population,  would  at  least  learn  to  read.  Their  fathers  would  also 


PKINCIPLES   OF   OUR   COMMON   EDUCATION.  213 

learn,  in  order  to  vote ;  and  as  much  as  they  learned  themselves,  so 
much  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  their  children  would  be  greatly 
benefited.  Education,  moreover,  would  thus  once  more  be  definitely 
recognized  and  significantly  honored  by  the  State ;  and  the  posses 
sion  and  exercise  of  political  power  would  once  more  be  publicly 
declared  conditional  upon  the  possession  of  the  ability  to  use  such 
power.  The  declaration  would  not  be  very  perfect ;  the  test  proposed 
is  not.  But  probably  it  is  the  best  that  circumstances  will  admit  of. 
Its  adoption  would,  at  least,  make  a  renewed  and  important  public 
assertion  of  our  hereditary  State  policy,  namely,  the  restriction  of  the 
governing  power  to  those  fit  to  use  it. 

The  principle  of  demanding  that  religion,  though  free  from  secta 
rianism,  should  be  carefully  excluded  from  our  common-schools,  is 
not  of  American  origin.  "  Education,  without  religion,"  savs  a  great 
authority,  "  merely  transforms  an  ignorant  brute  into  a  clever  fiend." 
True  religious  feeling  is  the  basis  of  all  useful  education.  It  is  the 
wholesome  check  upon  that  power  which  man  acquires  through  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge.  "  Knowledge  is  power,  but  it  is  neither 
wisdom  nor  virtue  ;"*  and  these  two  qualities,  so  necessary  to  the  very 
existence  of  society,  can  only  be  implanted  by  religious  faith.  The 
prevalence  of  the  Epicurean  philosophy  did  much  to  destroy  the 
Roman  Empire ;  and,  in  later  years,  the  teachings  of  Voltaire  and 
Rousseau  removed  the  only  check  which  restrained  the  French  nation 
from  those  frightful  excesses  which  form  so  dark  a  picture  in  the  his 
tory  of  mankind.  The  "  Goddess  of  Reason"  has  ever  been  insuffi 
cient  to  direct  either  individuals  or  multitudes;  and  the  first  step 
towards  the  restoration  of  order  in  France,  was  the  recognition  of  the 
Divine  power  in  the  government  of  the  world. 

As  the  cherished  sentiments  of  thousands  of  our  naturalized  and 
alien  citizens  become  known  to  the  American  people,  it  is  discovered 
that  we  not  only  have  the  Romish  priest,  industriously  at  work  to 
suppress  the  Scriptures,  but  that  we  have  organized  societies  of 
avowed  infidels  and  atheists,  who  openly  proclaim  that  there  is  no 

*  Alison. 


214  A    VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

liberty  where  even  moral,  much  less  religious,  restraints  prevail,  and 
that  the  perfection  of  society  is  accomplished,  when  the  unregenerated 
passions  of  the  heart  alone  control  human  action/" 

The  experience  of  other  nations  presents  warnings  to  the  American, 
of  the  necessity  of  constantly  insisting  upon  the  moral  training  of  our 
youth.  We  want  no  dogmas,  no  "  isms,"  but  we  want  the  Scriptures 
free.  That  they  might  be  so,  our  forefathers  made  a  home  in  the 
wilderness,  and  left  tTic  heritage  to  the  present  generation.  Shall  we, 
in  the  prosecution  of  our  school-system,  allow  it  to  be  emasculated  oi 
its  chief  strength,  because  of  the  demands  of  the  priests  of  a  cor 
rupted  religion,  or  because  we  are  required  to  do  so  by  foreigner? 
who  openly  declare  war  upon  religion  itself?  It  is  for  the  American? 
who  truly  love  their  country  to  decide. 

*  See  published  statements  of  the  principles  of  various  German  Societies 
throughout  the  Union. 


THE  POLITICAL  POWER  OF  THE  POPE. 

"The  Romish  Church  has  always  ranged  herself  on  the  side  of  Despotism." — GUIZOT 

IT  has  lately  become  the  fashion  for  party  men  and  journalists  to 
assert  that  the  influence  of  the  Papal  See  on  political  affairs  no  longer 
exists;  that  history  proves  her  power  to  have  been  on  the  wane 
during  many  past  years ;  that  the  march  of  intellect  and  spread  of 
education  have  forced  her  to  relinquish  coercive  power ;  and  that  the 
resumption  of  her  former  influence  is  impossible.  "We  are  constantly 
told  by  prelates,  priests,  and  politicians,  that  the  supremacy  of  the 
Pope  in  temporal  affairs  "  is  not  an  established  doctrine  of  the  Roman 
Church  ;  it  is  simply  a  sententia  in  ecclesia—an  unadjudicated  ques 
tion,  without  positive  authority,  and  incumbent  upon  no  one's  faith  ; 
that  a  Romanist  may  believe  what  he  pleases  on  the  subject,  and 
be  a  good  Churchman  still."  Those,  on  the  contrary,  who,  relying 
on  the  authority  of  the  Fathers  of  that  Church,  receiving  the  declara 
tions  of  the  priesthood  themselves,  and  accepting  the  explanation  of 
the  Roman  press,  maintain  a  different  opinion,  are  accused  of  bigotry 
and  intolerance,  or  stigmatized  as  enemies  to  liberty.  It  becomes  us, 
therefore,  to  examine  these  pretensions,  and,  having  seen  their  import 
in  other  ages,  to  inquire  if  they  have  been  relinquished,  or,  as  is 
strenuously  urged,  become  obsolete. 

In  order  to  a  full  appreciation  of  this  momentous  question,  a  glance 
at  the  origin  and  progress  of  Papal  assumption  is  necessary,  so  that 
a  full  idea  of  the  arrogance  of  Rome  may  be  realized. 

Systems  which  are  longest  in  their  growth,  are  most  lasting  in 
their  effects.  This  is  peculiarly  the  case  with  that  politico-religious 
organization — Romanism  :  commencing  in  the  first  centuries  of  the 


216  A    VOICE    TO    AMEKICA. 

Christian  era — ;i  period  when  the  whole  known  world  was  in  a  state 
of  transition — it  has  steadily  progressed  from  infancy  io  robust  man 
hood  :  accurately  observing  cause  and  effect,  it  quickly  learnt  to  con 
trol  events,  and  mould  men  and  monarchies  to  its  will.  "What  was 
originally  conferred  as  a  favor,  it  quickly  arrogated  as  a  right ;  and, 
when  princes  remonstrated,  or  jurists  denied  its  claims,  forgery  was 
resorted  to  in  defence  of  its  usurpations,  and  absolution  and  prefer 
ment  were  the  rewards  of  assassins  who  removed  its  opponents. 

In  the  struggle  between*the  Eastern  and  Western  Empires,  the 
See  of  Rome  early  rejected  the  Byzantine  yoke,  thus  asserting  a  right 
to  resist  governments.  In  becoming  temporal  princes,  the  Popes  de 
clared  that  a  union  could  exist  between  the  temporal  and  spiritual ; 
and,  at  the  election  of  Pepin  to  the  throne  of  France,  arrogated  the 
power  of  umpires  in  political  disputes.  Thus,  gradually  establishing 
authority  by  precedent,  the  Papacy  matured  its  policy,  until  Ililde- 
brand  placed  a  climax  on  the  growth  of  six  centuries.* 

This  famous  Pontiff  is  regarded  by  all  historians  as  the  master 
mind  of  his  age,  and  the  architect  of  the  Romish  Church.  Ills  great 
antagonist,  Ilenry  IV.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  found  the  armies  of  the 
empire  powerless  against  the  Eternal  City,  and  was  compelled  to 
listen  to  the  Pope  as  he  fulminated  interdicts  against  his  kingdom, 
and  excommunication  against  himself.  Nor  did  the  Papal  emissaries 
confine  their  operations  merely  to  Germany.  In  England,  they  im 
posed  and  collected  taxes  without  the  consent  of  the  authorities,  and 
frequently  raised  insurrections  by  their  extortions.  So  extravagant 
became  their  demands  in  France,  that  the  civil  power  was  forced  to 
interfere,  and  St.  Louis  decreed  the  "Pragmatic  Sanction,"  curbing 
the  power  of  the  Papacy  in  his  kingdom.  In  fact,  monarchy  was  in 
rebellion,  and  what  could  not  be  acquired  by  force,  Rome  resolved 
to  gain  by  wiles. 

The  thirteenth  century  sawr  the  struggle  commence  between  the 
people  and  Feudalism.  But  the  Papacy  early  understood  that  Lib 
erty  would  be  death  to  its  pretensions,  and  therefore  allied  itself  with 

*  Gregory  VII.,  A.  D.  1073. 


POLITICAL  POWER  OF  THE  POPE.  217 

Tyranny.  The  Barons,  who  had  extorted  MAGNA  CIIARTA  from 
John,  were  excommunicated  by  the  Pope,  and  a  war  of  extermina 
tion  commenced  against  the  Albigenses.  This  people,  in  the  enjoy 
ment  of  political  and  religious  freedom,  were  under  the  protection  of 
the  Count  of  Toulouse,  who,  on  his  refusal  to  abet  the  designs  of 
the  Papacy,  was  excommunicated,  and  his  destruction  resolved 
upon. 

Every  expedient  was  resorted  to  in  order  to  detach  their  protectors 
from  this  unfortunate  people ;  and  the  Pope  showed  the  policy  of 
Rome  towards  her  opponents,  in  the  following  memorable  words  : 

"  We  advise  you,  according  to  the  precepts  of  the  Apostle  Paul, 
to  use  cunning  in  your  dealings  with  the  Count,  which,  in  the  pres 
ent  case,  should  rather  be  deemed  prudence.  It  is  expedient  to  at 
tack  those  separately  who  have  broken  the  unity  of  the  Church ;  to 
spare  the  Count  of  Thoulouse  for  a  season,  treating  him  with  wise 
dissimulation,  in  order  that  the  other  heretics  may  be  more  easily 
destroyed,  and  that  we  may  crush  him  at  our  leisure  when  he  stands 
alone."* 

But  treachery  was  not  the  only  weapon  which  Romanism  found 
useful  to  adopt.  Henry  VII.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  was  assassinated 
by  order  of  Pope  Clement  V.,  poison  being  administered  to  him  in 
the  Eucharist,  from  the  hands  of  his  Dominican  confessor.  But 
crimes  become  virtues  in  a  creed  which  asserts  the  maxim — "  The 
end  justifies  the  means." 

Religion  has  always  given  place  to  policy  when  Romanism  has 
been  forced  to  an  alternative.  The  Duke  of  Guise  was  assassinated 
by  order  of  his  sovereign  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  his  opposition  to  the 
Huguenots  of  France,  and  his  being  the  leader  of  the  Romanist  party, 
the  Pope  justified  the  assassination  on  the  ground  of  political  expe 
diency.  But  the  most  memorable  instance  of  Papal  duplicity  is 
shown  in  the  treatment  of  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  one  of  the  greatest  sup 
porters  of  the  Romish  See  that  history  can  produce.  Rome,  how 
ever,  feared  his  power,  and  secretly  sought  the  alliance  of  Elizabeth 

*  Pope  Innocent  III.  to  the  Abbot  of  Citeaux. 


218  A   VOICE    TO    AMERICA. 

of  England,  advising  her  to  assist  the  insurgents  against  Philip's 
authority  in  the  Netherlands.  When  this  sovereign  had  resolved  on 
war  with  England,  the  Pope  sent  information  to  Elizabeth  of  the  plan 
forming  for  her  destruction,  together  with  copies  of  letters  he  had 
received  from  the  king  relative  to  the  Armada.  The  whole  history 
of  the  Papacy  is  full  of  such  instances  as  these ;  and  neither  suc 
ceeding  centuries  nor  the  progress  of  civilization  have  produced  a 
change. 

The  history  of  Westphalia,  in  1649,  was  the  triumph  of  Protest 
antism  and  free  opinions.  The  Papacy  then  ceased  to  have  any 
direct  political  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Europe  ;  henceforward  it 
was  no  longer  to  maintain  authority  by  the  aid  of  arms  and  the  civil 
power ;  but  to  struggle  for  present  existence  and  prospective  influence 
by  craft  and  cunning.  It  may  be  said  of  this  system — 

"  It  was  not  for  an  age,  but  for  all  time." 

Romanism  has  weapons  suited  to  every  cycle.  It  adapts  itself  to 
every  people;  it  conforms  to  and  supports  every  government;  but  in 
despotism,  monarchy,  and  republicanism,  its  aim  is  still  unchanged. 
Tyrannizing  in  barbarism,  fawning  in  the  sixteenth  century,  intriguing 
in  the  nineteenth.  Tolerant  where  forced,  it  persecutes  where  possi 
ble.  Liberal  in  England  and  America,  autocratic  in  Spain  and  Aus~ 
tria.  Truly,  "  tout  chemin  mene  a  Rome."* 

The-  weapons  which  the  Papal  hierarchy  now  wields  in  free  coun 
tries,  are  admirably  suited  to  the  organization  of  its  ministers.  Celi 
bacy  of  the  priesthood  gave  power  to  the  Papacy,  and  maintains  its 
influence.  Family  and  country  have  no  ties  on  the  Romish  cleror, 
and  the  Popes  have  always  been  convinced  that  celibacy  is  the  great 
bond  which  unites  all  portions  of  the  Papal  dominions.  Rome  there 
fore  enjoys  exclusive  possession  of  every  feeling  which  can  render  her 
ministers  good  subjects  or  good  citizens.  Pius  IV.  comprehended  the 
immense  value  of  an  unmarried  clergy.  Though  he  violently  con 
demned  the  administration  of  the  eucharist  in  both  kinds,  he  relaxed 
*  "  Every  road  leads  to  Home." 


POLITICAL    POWER   OF   THE    POPE.  219 

the  prohibition,  at  the  instance  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  and  per 
mitted  the  cup- to  be  given  to  the  laity  in  Germany.  But  on  the 
point  of  celibacy  he'  was  inflexible ;  for  he  was  justly  convinced  that 
it  was  the  great  bond  by  which  all  the  portions  of  Papal  domination 
were  united,  and  that,  if  it  should  be  relaxed,  the  entire  edifice  would 
fall  in  sunder. 

A  very  necessary  element  of  success,  is  the  command  of  funds ; 
and  here  the  Romish  Church  is  aided  by  the  celibacy  of  her  priest 
hood.  "  The  clergy  is  a  family  which  can  never  perish  ;  its  wealth 
therefore  remains  with  it  forever ;  and,  as  it  is  not  a  family  to  increase, 
government  should  restrict  its  power  of  acquiring  additional  wealth." 
(Montesquieu.)  Rome  shows  her  appreciation  of  such  restrictions, 
by  treating  them  as  sacrilege ;  and  governments,  in  asserting  their 
independence  of  Papal  tyranny,  have  found  it  necessary  to  first  curb 
its  financiering  proclivities.  A  government  which  neglects  legislative 
enactments  on  so  momentous  a  subject,  will  eventually  find  the  Romish 
Church  capable  of  any  resistance,  and  bidding  defiance  to  the  laws. 

We  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  men,  otherwise  far-seeing,  can 
speak  of  Rome  as  powerless  for  evil.  Are  any  of  her  means  of  action 
restrained  ?  Is  she  less  wealthy?  Are  her  followers  materially  dimin 
ished,  or  less  devoted  ?  Is  her  alliance  with  governments  perilled  ? 
Or  has  she  become  meek  and  lowly,  and  forgotten  her  former  arro 
gance  ?  In  eveiy  country  we  see  her  bishops  and  priests  leading  a 
strong  party,  whose  alliance  is  sought,  and  opinions  pandered  to,  by 
party-men  of  different  shades  of  opinion.  In  England,  the  Popish 
Parliamentary  league  is  feared  and  hated  by  every  ministry.  In 
France,  their  alliance  is  gained  by  the  government,  in  return  for 
almost  supreme  ecclesiastical  power.  In  Germany,  Rome  educates 
in  the  schools,  and  Jesuits  be^r  sway  in  the  cabinet.  She  attempts 
to  arrest  the  march  of  freedom  in  Sardinia,  and  strives  to  stifle  its 
rise  in  Spain.  Is  it  egotism  which  induces  Americans  to  deny  her 
influence  in  this  republic,  and  are  they  blind  to  passing  events  in 
their  own  country  ?  What,  then,  is  the  explanation  of  demagogues 
flattering  the  Papal  hierarchy ;  what  the  meaning  of  the  riots  of  our 


220  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

foreign  population  ;  and  for  what  purpose  is  so  inucli  property  In  the 
hands  of  the  priesthood,  and  in  their  hands  alone  ?  The  tact  is  obvi 
ous,  that  the  means  Home  formerly  possessed,  she  has  not  parted  with. 
She  is  as  powerful  for  evil  as  in  the  days  of  Innocent  III.;  and,  when 
the  situation  warrants  it,  sift  will  know  where  to  find  another  Hilde- 
brand. 

We  are  not  alone  in  this  conviction.  The  historian,  Macaulav, 
holds  the  same  opinion,  in  the  following  language : 

"The  Papacy  remains — not  in  decay,  not  a  mere  antique,  but  full 
of  life  and  youthful  vigor.  The  Catholic  Church  is  still  sending  forth 
to  the  furtherest  ends  of  the  world,  missionaries  as  zealous  as  those 
who  landed  in  Kent  with  Augustin  ;  and  still  confronting  hostile 
kings  with  the  same  spirit  with  which  she  confronted  Attila." 

There  is  a  fundamental  mistake  made  by  -would-be  philosophers  of 
the  present  day,  which  may  lead  to  very  disastrous  consequences. 
Viewing  the  want  of  education  in  Romanist  countries,  and  the  unin- 
tellectual  character  of  their  inhabitants,  they  imagine  the  Papal 
priests  to  be  participators  in  this  ignorance,  whereas  the  contrary  is 
the  case.  The  Romisli  priests,  as  a  body,  are  educated,  scientific,  and 
refined.  They  number  men  among  them  eminent  in  every  branch 
of  literature,  and  especially  in  political  philosophy.  This  fact  is  one 
which  should  cause  them  to  be  regarded  with  greater  fear,  since  they 
are  prepared  beforehand  for  every  emergency.  Their  education  is 
instilled  into  them  with,  and  becomes  a  part  of,  one  great  controlling 
aim — the  supremacy  of  their  order. 

Rome  formerly  worked  by  what  may  be  termed  physical  means. 
She  was  a  species  of  equipoise — a  political  umpire  between  contend 
ing  governments.  But  this  influence  has  departed,  and  Rome  adapts 
herself  to  the  age.  She  educates  her  ministers  to  meet  the  times; 
and  her  followers  are  trained  to  make  every  action  of  their  live*, 
every  phase  of  their  existence,  subservient  to  a  fixed  policy.  Seated 
in  the  midst  of  the  civilized  world,  accurately  marking  every  change 
of  the  political  horizon,  Rome  awaits  her  moment,  and,  when  llm 
success  of  one  or  other  political  party  is  wavering  in  the  balance. 


POLITICAL   POWER   OF   THE   POPE.  221 

she  throws  in  the  immense  weight  of  her  followers,  and  bears  down 
all  opposition.  Politicians  laugh  at  our  tears,  and  deride  our  asser 
tions  ;  yet  these  same  men  are  courting  that  party  whose  influence 
they  deny.  Why  is  it  that  public  men  are  so  courteous  to,  and 
apologistic  of,  the  Romish  Church  ?  It  is  because  they  know  it  to  be 
an  undivided  power, — no  two  policies  there,  no  factions,  no  North 
and  South,  but  a  party  one  and  indivisible.  Whigs  and  Democrats 
may  contend,  "  isms"  may  come  in  contact,  and  a  "  National  party" 
be  rent  by  fanatics,  but  Rome  is  unchangeable.  There  are  no  divisions 
there ;  she  commands,  and  countless  thousands  obey.  No  wonder, 
then,  our  public  men  are  so  deferential  to  such  a  power,  though  at 
the  same  time  denying  its  existence  to  the  country.  WTill  America 
thus  be  treated  by  her  representatives  ? 

The  oft-repeated  assertion  of  the  Papal  See  not  claiming  temporal 
supremacy,  is  one  calculated  to  bring  about  the  most  disastrous  results. 
Legislators  in  this,  as  in  other  countries,  are  unceasing  in  the  propa 
gation  of  this  error ;  and  even  Romanists  themselves  assert  a  doctrine 
which  is  entirely  opposed  to  the  spirit  and  affirmation  of  their  hie 
rarchy.  From  the  ninth  century  to  the  nineteenth — from  Gregory  VII. 
to  Pius  IX. — the  doctrine  of  that  Church  has  been,  the  elevation  of 
the  spiritual  over  the  secular.  This  right  is  not  asserted  as  a  conse 
quence  of  the  spiritual  power,  but  as  of  divine  origin.  Thus  Hilde- 
brand,  in  excommunicating  Henry  IV.,  uses  the  language,  "Ex  parte 
omnipotentis  Dei"  The  same  Pontiff  asserts  that  "kings  and  princes 
are  bound  to  kiss  the  feet  of  God's  vicegerent.  He  has  a  right  to 
depose  emperors.  His  sentence  can  be  annulled  by  none,  but  he 
can  annul  the  decrees  of  all."  Successive  Pontiffs  were  unceasing  in 
maintaining  this  doctrine,  and  constantly  asserted  that  governments 
held  their  authority  from  the  Romish  See.  Pope  Boniface  VIII. 
addresses  Philip  le  Bel  of  France  in  the  same  arrogant  language : 
"  We  would  have  thee  to  know  that  in  things  spiritual  and  temporal, 
thou  art  subject  to  us."  In  fact,  throughout  the  whole  range  of  the 
Papacy,  from  Hildebrand  downwards,  such  has  been  the  declaration 
of  the  so-called  successors  of  St.  Peter. 


222  A   VOICK   TO    AMERICA. 

In  A.D.  1414,  tlic  Council  of  Constance  declares  :  »  The  laity  ha\M 
no  jurisdiction  and  power  over  the  clergy.''  And  the  Council  of 
Trent,  in  1545,  asserts:  "The  exemption  of  clerical  persons  has  been 
instituted  by  the  ordination  of  God,  and  by  canonical  institutions.'1 
(Sess.  25,  chap.  20.)  • 

It  was  in  the  early  ages  of  the  Papacy  that  Rome  found  her  me-; 
critical  moments;  and  such  decrees  as  the  above  were  necessary,  no; 
merely  to  acquire  additional  power,  but  to  retain  what  she  ahead" 
possessed.     Many  national   Churches  were    almost    independent    of 
Rome,  particularly  that  of  France.     Under  the  leadership  of  sue]  . 
men  as  Bossuet  and  Fenelon,  backed  by  the  enormous  pow. 
Louis  XIV.,  France  successfully  resisted  the  encroachments  of  tli  •. 
Romish  See,  and  even  gave  a  name  to  all  such  opposition,  namely, 
Gallicanism.     But  this  independence  of  Rome  is  now  only  history  ; 
the  Papal  hierarchy  of  the  present  day  is  ultramontanist  ihioughoui. 
find  the  Church  recognizes  the  Pope  as  infallible  and  supreme  in  al 
matters.     Even  France  herself  owns  to  the  annihilation  of  her  nations 
Church.     The  Count  of  Montalembert  thus  speaks,  in  1852  : 

"  Let  us  all  labor,  according  to  the  measure  of  our  meekness,  U 
maintain  her  (the  Romish  See)  in  this  dignity,  in  this  sovereign  inde 
pendence.  We  are  entering  upon  the  age  of  the  regeneration  0'% 
Catholicism,  which  will  console  us  for  all  the  outrages,  all  the  defec 
tions,  it  has  had  to  endure  since  the  revival  of  paganism,  four  hundred 
years  ago." 

The  ultramontane  doctrine,  as  enunciated  by  Bellannine,  and 
defended  by  the  Jesuits,  is  now,  in  fact,  the  faith  of  the  entire 
Romish  clergy  and  Church.  Bellannine  thus  illustrates  his  posi 
tion  : 

"The  Pope,  as  Pope,  although  he  has  not  any  merely  temporal 
power,  hath,  nevertheless,  in  order  to  a  spiritual  c;ood.  the  supreme 
power  of  disposing  of  the  temporal  concerns  of  all  Christians."  (JJd- 
larmine,  chap,  vi.) 

Again  : 

"The  clergy  cannot  be  punished  by  political  judges,  neither  be  in 


POLITICAL   POWER   OF   THE   POPE.  223 

any  way  brought  before  the  judicial  chair  of  the  secular  magistrate.  . . 
The  Pope  has  redeemed  the  clergy  from  the  obedience  due  to  princes ; 
therefore  kings  are  no  more  the  superiors  of  the  clergy."  (Bellar- 
mine,  chap.  28.) 

Another  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Romish  Church  is  even  more  explicit. 
Baronius,  in  speaking  of  the  supremacy  of  the  Papal  power,  ob 
serves  : 

"  All  those  who  take  from  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  from  the  See 
of  St.  Peter,  one  of  the  two  swords,  and  allow  only  the  spiritual,  are 
branded  for  heretics."  (Baronius,  Ann.  1053,  §14.) 

Political  partisans  and  unscrupulous  demagogues  may  assert  that 
the  march  of  civilization  has  caused  Rome  to  relinquish  these  claims, 
but  there  never  was  a  time  when  her  pretensions  have  found  more 
numerous  or  abler  champions  than  at  present.  The  doctrine  is  tri 
umphant  throughout  the  entire  Papacy,  and  in  Protestant  countries 
it  is  pertinaciously  asserted. 

To  be  convinced  that  this  ultramontane  power  of  the  Popes  is 
truly  the  belief  of  every  faithful  Romanist,  we  need  only  look  to  the 
writings  of  Brownson,  in  our  own  country.  The  opinions  of  his 
Review  are  endorsed  by  the  Romish  hierarchy  throughout  the  States, 
and  he  therefore  speaks  the  creed  of  his  Church. 

"  There  is,  in  our  judgment,  but  one  valid  defence  of  the  Popes,  in 
their  exercise  of  temporal  authority  in  the  middle  ages  over  sove 
reigns,  and  that  is,  that  they  possess  it  by  divine  right,  or  that  the 
Pope  holds  that  authority  by  virtue  of  his  commission  from  Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  successor  of  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  and  visi 
ble  head  of  the  Church." "As  the  denial  of  the  spiritual  au 
thority  soon  leads  to  a  denial  of  the  temporal,  so  the  denial  of  the 
temporal  soon  leads  to  the  denial  of  the  spiritual.  "When  we  found 
democracy  even  by  nominal  Catholics  embraced  in  that  sense  in  which 
it  denies  all  law,  and  asserts  the  right  of  the  people,  or  rather  of  the 
mob,  to  do  whatever  they  please,  and  making  it  criminal  in  us  to 
dispute  their  infallibility,  we  felt  that  we  must  bring  out  the  truth 
against  them,  and  if  scandal  resulted,  we.  were  not  its  cause.  The  re 


224:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

sponsibility  rests  on  those  Avhose  obsequiousness  to  the  multitude  matta 
our  opposition  necessary." 

"  The  Pope  has  the  right  to  pronounce  sentence  of  deposition  against 
any  sovereign,  when  required  by  the  good  of  the  spiritual  order." 
(Brownson's  Review,  vol.  i.,  p.  48.) 

"  The  power  of  the  Church  exercised  over  sovereigns  in  the  middle 
ages  was  not  a  usurpation,  was  not  derived  from  the  concession  ol 
princes,  or  the  consent  of  all  people,  but  ivas,  and  is,  held  l>y  divine 
right,  and  whoso  resists  it,  rebels  against  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords."  (Ibid.,  p.  47.) 

"  She  (the  Church)  bears  by  divine  right  both  swords,  but  she  ex 
ercises  the  temporal  sword  by  the  hand  of  the  princes  or  magistrates. 
The  temporal  sovereign  holds  it  subject  to  her  order,  to  be  exercised 
in  her  service,  under  her  direction."  (Ibid.,  p.  GO.) 

"  The  spiritual  is  not  only  superior  to  the  temporal,  but  is  its  sove 
reign,  and  punishes  its  law."  (Ibid.) 

"We  consider  this  the  most  open-mouthed,  bare-faced  assertion  oi 
the  temporal  supremacy  of  the  Popes  over  free  governments  and  uni 
versal  suffrage  of  which  it  is  possible  to  conceive,  and  this  asserted 
too  in  a  country  which  has  separated  Church  and  State,  fearing  the 
encroachments  of  the  spiritual  power.  Has  this  man  sworn  to  main 
tain  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ?  Can  Jesuitry  reconcile 
his  words  with  such  an  oath  '? 

But  this  doctrine  is  developed  in  its  utmost  elaboration  in  the  Eternal 
City.  The  Civilta  Cattolica  is  a  journal  published  at  Rome  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Pontiff,  and  its  views  and  opinions  are  received  1  >y 
the  Romanists  throughout  the  world  as  the  effusions  of  the  Holy  See. 
In  the  course  of  a  late  article,  this  paper  thus  speaks  : 

"  What  are  the  limits  of  the  power  of  coercion  ?  There  are  but 
two,  which,  in  fact,  comprehend  all  others,  namely,  means  and  aim. .  .  . 
"What  then  are  the  limits  of  the  Church's  means  ?  There  are  none 
except  the  limits  of  human  power,  and  of  the  divine  assistance  by 
which  the  Church  is  comforted.  As  the  Church  commands  the 
spiritual  part  of  man  directly,  she  therefore  commands  the  whole 


POLITICAL   POWER  OF  THE   POPE.  225 

man,  and  all  that  depends  on  man From  the  darkness  of  the 

Catacombs  she  (the  Church)  dictated  laws  to  the  subjects  of  the  em 
perors,  abrogating  decrees,  whether  plebeian,  senatorial,  or  imperial, 
when  in  conflict  with  Catholic  ordinances Did.  the  Christian  em 
perors  become  insolent  ?  The  Church  armed  against  them  their  veiy 
electors.  To  every  rampant  heresy  the  Church  knew  how  to  oppose 
the  power  either  of  the  peoples  or  of  their  princes  ;  and  when  these 
supports  seemed  at  last  to  have  been  snatched  from  her  by  a  univer 
sal  rationalism,  behold  !  there  is  a  sudden  turning  back  of  both  ; — 
of  the  nations,  fearing  an  unbridled  royal  power,  and  proclaiming  the 
necessity  of  a  supreme  spiritual  power ;  of  the  princes,  beginning  to 
understand,  at  the  light  of  a  bloody  communism,  that  the  princi 
ples  of  the  Church  are  a  firmer  foundation  for  their  thrones  than 
bayonets,  which  must  always  be  intrusted  to  a  part  of  the  people. .  . . 
The  conclusion  is,  therefore,  that  there  are  no  limits  to  the  exercise 
of  the  coercive  power  of  the  Church,  either  in  view  of  her  means  or 
of  her  aim."  (Civilta  Cattolica,  No.  cxi.,  2d  Series,  vol.  viii., 
Nov.,  1854,  pp.  273-282.) 

This,  we  take  it,  is  proof  positive  of  the  assumptions  of  Rome  in 
regard  to  the  civil  power,  but  lest  our  readers  should  suppose  these 
would  not  be  enforced,  we  will  give  a  further  extract  from  the  same 
article : 

"  Petty  politicians  may  conclude  that  the  Church  has  lost  her 
power,  because  she  does  not  enlist  artillery,  cavalry,  and  infemtry ; 
but  the  truth  is,  that  the  artillery,  cavalry,  and  infantry  of  the  Catho 
lics  are  in  the  hands  of  the  Church,  inasmuch  as  in  her  hands  are 
the  mind,  the  reason,  and  the  power  of  every  true  Catholic."  (Civ. 
Cat.,  ibid.) 

Such  is  the  arrogance,  such  the  declarations  of  the  See  of  Rome  in 
the  nineteenth  century ;  nor  is  it  probable  that  she  will  surrender  pre 
tensions  which  have  been  successfully  asserted  through  ten  centuries. 
It  was  by  this  authority,  Paschal  II.,  in  1099,  deposed  Henry  IV.  of 
Germany;  Innocent  III.,  in  1210,  deposed  Otho  IV.;  Gregory  IX., 
in  1239,  excommunicated  Frederick  II.,  and  absolved  his  subjects 


226  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

from  tlieir  allegiance  ;  Innocent  IV.,  in  1245,  pronounced  sentence 
of  deprivation  against  the  same  Frederick;  Boniface  Y1IL,  in  1302, 
thundered  forth  against  Philip  le  Bel  of  France  the  famous  bull 
Unam  Sanctam,  containing  the  most  extravagant  assertions  of  the 
power  of  the  Holy  See;  Paul  III.,  in  1530  and  in  1538,  deposed  and 
damned  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  and  absolved  his  subjects  from  their 
allegiance  ;  Pius  V.,  in  1570,  uttered  a  bull  against  Queen  Elizabeth, 
in  which,  uout  of  the  fulness  of  apostolic  power,"  he  deprived  her  of 
"  her  pretended  title  to  the  kingdom,"  and  released  her  subjects  from 
"  all  manner  of  duty,  dominion,  allegiance,  and  obedience."  In  virtue 
of  this  same  power,  Spain  is  now  impeded  in  her  progress  of  reform, 
and  Sardinia  is  expecting  shortly  to  be  excommunicated. 

A  bull  of  the  Pope  was  the  death-blow  to  the  revolution  of  Poland 
in  1830;  like  interference  caused  mischief  to  the  Republics  of  Flo 
rence,  Genoa,  Venice,  and  was  the  origin  of  the  wars  of  the  Sonder- 
bund  in  Switzerland  in  1847.  No  struggle  has  ever  taken  place  in 
favor  of  popular  liberty,  in  any  Romish  country,  but  it  has  invariably 
met  with  opposition  from  the  priesthood. 

We  are  at  an  utter  loss  to  understand  how  Americans  can  be  mis 
led  by  assertions  in  their  own  country  relative  to  Rome,  when  events 
of  such  magnitude  are  passing  in  Europe.  Spain  is  struggling  to 
throw  off  the  overwhelming  influence  of  the  Church,  yet  Rome  abates 
not  one  of  her  pretensions.  Sardinia,  too,  is  entering  upon  her  own 
regeneration  and  that  of  Italy,  but  the  Eternal  City  is  straining  every 
nerve  in  opposition,  and  the  country  is  daily  fearing  to  be  laid  under 
interdict.  It  is  the  duty  of  Americans  to  keep  pace  with  these  events, 
and  the  favorers  of  the  Papacy  would  then  meet  with  small  considera 
tion  at  the  hands  of  our  citizens. 

The  Sardinian  government,  having  become  enlightened  by  the 
spread  of  education  and  free  opinion,  entered  upon  a  course  of  benefi 
cent  reform  under  the  auspices  of  the  late  king,  Carlo  Alberto.  His 
benevolent  designs  were  frustrated  by  Austria  and  Rome,  and  him 
self  compelled  to  abdicate.  His  son,  Victor  Emanuel,  has  steadily 
pursued  the  policy  of  his  father ;  but,  as  is  invariably  the  case,  the 


POLITICAL   POWER   OF   THE   POPE.  227 

Rornish  Church  places  itself  in  opposition  to  the  movement,  and  Sar 
dinia  is  all  but  racked  with  civil  war.  The  property  of  the  clergy 
amounts  to  eighty  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  but  is  so  unequally  dis 
tributed,  that  the  government  has  been  obliged  to  pay  two  hundred 
thousand  annually  for  the  support  of  the  lower  orders  of  the  clergy. 
Between  eight  and  ten  thousand  monks  and  nuns,  inhabiting  more 
than  six  hundred  monastic  establishments,  enjoy  an  annual  revenue  of 
nearly  half  a  million  of  dollars.  Such  enormous  ecclesiastical  wealth 
is  felt  to  be  a  drain  on  the  prosperity  of  the  countiy,  and  the  govern 
ment  finding  it  in  the  way  of  reform,  has  lately  legislated  upon  it. 
This  calls  forth  the  fierce  opposition  of  the  clergy,  and  the  Pope  thus 
speaks  of  the  decrees  of  the  Sardinian  government : 

"  We  reject  and  condemn  not  only  all  and  each  of  the  decrees  of 
that  government,  hurtful  to  the  rights  and  authority  of  religion,  of 
the  Church,  and  of  the  Holy  See,  but  likewise  the  law  lately  proposed. 
We  declare  all  these  acts  to  be  absolutely  null  and  void."  (Allocu 
tion  of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  in  Jan.,  1854.) 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  the  Established  Church  of  England 
still  held  ecclesiastical  sway  over  the  Episcopalians  of  America,  and 
John  Wesley  had  direction  over  the  rapidly  increasing  denomination 
of  Methodists.  But  the  members  of  these  Churches  being  Protest 
ants,  at  once  followed  the  example  of  the  government,  in  separating 
from  "  foreign  influences/'  and  the  spiritual  power  of  foreign  ecclesi 
astics.  This  was  done  without  injuring  the  cause  of  true  religion, 
and  was  in  strict  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  our  institutions.  The 
communicants  of  the  Romish  Church  have  alone  persevered  in  their 
foreign  allegiance, — an  obedience  at  war  with  good  citizenship,  and, 
although  denominated  spiritual,  is  for  all  practical  purposes  a  politi 
cal  despotism. 

We  appeal  to  our  readers.  Is  it  patriotic,  is  it  right  to  abstain  from 
binding  this  enormous,  this  ever-increasing  power,  simply  from  fear 
of  being  accused  of  religious  persecution  ?  When  we  find  the  sceptre 
and  the  crosier  so  bound  together,  that  we  cannot  tell  where  one  begins 
and  the  other  ends,  is  it  not  the  duty  of  every  true  American  to  crush 


228  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

such  a  fearful  hierarchy,  such  au  overwhelming  influence?  We  aie 
surrounded  by  countless  thousands  of  foreign  Romanists,  who,  in  the  r 
superstition,  believe  the  priest  to  be  a  demigod ;  the  priests,  in  the  r 
turn,  have  no  volition  apart  from  their  diocesan ;  and  the  bishops  rc^  - 
erence  the  Pope  as  God's  vicegerent,  in  temporal  as  in  spiritual  ma  > 
ters.  The  mind  fails  to  conceive  a  system  more  suitable  to  attain 
power,  and  yet  we  are  told  that  we  should  not  fear  the  Pope. 

While  we  are  thus  unconscious  of  danger,  Rome  is  ever  working  ; 
her  clergy  throughout  the  different  States  are  amassing  untold  wealil  ; 
they  are  allying  themselves  with  various  parties,  and  rendering  assi.^t- 
ance  to  demagogues ;  they  are  studying  the  weak  points  in  our  poll:  i- 
cal  fabric,  and  the  defects  in  our  constitution ;  and  when  they  a  -e 
strongest  and  we  weakest,  they  will  strike  with  a  force,  telling  us  b  it 
too  strongly,  that  while  we  slept,  Rome  was  ever  watchful. 


NOTE. — See  Appendix,  "Eolations  of  the  Pope  to  tlio  Civil  rower" — n  Letter 
from  0.  A.  Brownson,  the  chosen  champion  of  Romanism  in  America. 


EVILS  OF  MILITARY  ORGANIZATIONS  EXCLUSIVELY 
OF  FOREIGNERS. 

"An  army,  to  be  efficient,  should  have  but  one  purpose,  encourage  but  cue  object.  This  makes 
the  mass  invincible— the  individuals,  heroes."— AXTHOXY  WAYXE. 

OF  the  many  evils  arising  from  the  want  of  a  proper  appreciation 
of  the  peculiarities  of  our  institutions,  one  of  the  most  pernicious  is 
the  formation  of  foreign  and  unnaturalized  citizens  into  military  com 
panies  savoring  of  the  nationality  of  the  countries  from  which  they 
have  emigrated.  Although  the  tendencies  of  our  government  are 
eminently  republican,  giving  free  liberty  of  action  and  of  conscience, 
still  there  are  certain  obligations,  tending  to  its  maintenance  untram 
melled  by  a  foreign  proclivity,  which  are  due  to  the  people  at  large, 
and  to  the  laws  under  which  this  liberty  is  guaranteed.  The  mould 
ing  of  the  minds  of  our  citizens  on  an  American  basis,  through  Amer 
ican  surroundings,  and  by  American  examples,  should  be  the  aim  of 
every  one  who  desires  to  retain  the  material  which  shall  insure  the 
perpetuity  of  our  institutions.  That  material  is  founded  in  veneration 
for  habits  and  customs  of  a  purely  American  bias,  irrespective  of  the 
individualities  of  any  other  country,  and  without  regard  to  the  senti 
ments  of  any  other  nationality. 

The  organization  of  foreigners  into  separate  regiments,  and  even 
companies,  is  entirely  subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  on 
which  this  republic  is  established.  It  was  in  order  to  annihilate  all 
foreign  influence  and  tyranny,  that  our  country  asserted  its  independ 
ence,  and  took  its  rank  among  the  governments  of  the  world,  not 
merely  as  an  assemblage  of  free  and  independent  States,  but  as  one 
indissolubly  united  people,  bound  to  each  other  by  the  same  hostility 

11 


230  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

to  tyranny  and  love  of  liberty ;  and  actuated  by  the  same  principles 
and  motives.  It  is  only  in  this  union,  that  our  republic  can  hope  to 
exist ;  and  every  thing  that  does  not  tend  to  preserve  this  unity,  is 
disastrous  in  its  nature,  and  should  be  resolutely  discountenanced. 
Can  it  be  said  that  organized  bands  of  armed  men  unacquainted 
with  our  language,  will  produce  the  desired  result  2  regiments  having 
foreigners  for  their  component  parts,  their  officers  drilling  them  in 
a  foreign  language  ? 

The  object  for  which  the  militia  is  formed  is,  to  protect  the  country 
from  foreign  invasion,  and  from  internal  riots.  Is  it  likely  that  in 
time  of  war  these  regiments  of  foreigners  would  be  of  the  same  ser 
vice  as  when  all  speak  the  same  language  ?  Would  they  be  likely  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  country  of  their  birth,  in  the  event  of  our 
becoming  involved  in  a  war  with  that  country  ?  It  is  well  known 
that  numbers  of  the  German  population  of  Williamsburg,  New  York 
city,  and  elsewhere,  have  threatened  to  arm  themselves,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  enforcement  of  a  law  which  was  distasteful  to  their  feel 
ings  and  opposed  to  their  supposed  interests.  Would  the  German 
companies  of  those  localities  obey  the  summons,  if  they  were  ordered 
to  put  down  this  armed  resistance  to  our  laws?  It  is  possible  that, 
the  very  men  who  have  made  this  threat,  are  those  who  belong  to 
some  military  organization,  and  depend  upon  the  muskets  which  our 
authorities  have  placed  in  their  hands  as  citizen-soldiers,  to  enable 
them  to  carry  their  threat  into  execution. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that,  if  a  foreign  military  organization  l>u 
inimical  in  a  national  point  of  view,  it  is  positively  destructive  on 
social  grounds.  The  peace  and  order  of  our  country,  so  long  as  they 
exist,  are  ever  at  stake;  nor  can  it  be  otherwise,  in  the  nature  of  things. 
The  interminable  hordes  of  emigrants  who  seek  our  large  cities,  con 
stantly  frequent  the  same  localities,  which  renders  them  exclusive  ;  so 
that  an  American  entering  certain  neighborhoods,  would  fancy  him 
self  in  Germany  or  Ireland.  The  denizens  have  little  communication 
with  the  outside  world, — have  their  own  papers,  clubs,  and  gather 
ings, — and  are  practically  a  distinct  people.  Laws  may  be  enacted, 


MILITARY   ORGANIZATION   OF   FOREIGNERS.  231 

affecting,  as  they  believe,  their  rights ;  these  laws  they  refuse  to  obey. 
The  municipal  authorities  order  force  to  compel  obedience ;  but  force 
can  be  met  by  force,  since  military  companies  exist,  composed  of  the 
rioters  themselves.  Thus  bloodshed  may  ensue.  We  have  had  pain 
ful  examples  of  this  fact  in  late  years.  It  was  only  on  the  last  anni 
versary  of  St.  Patrick's  Day  in  New  York,  that  such  a  probability  was 
freely  discussed  in  the  papers,  and  looked  for  with  forebodings  by  our 
peaceable  citizens.  Is  not  this  sufficient  to  open  the  eyes  of  our 
legislators  to  the  crying  evils  of  such  organizations,  and  to  induce 
the  authorities  to  constitute  them  illegal  ? 

Let  us,  for  a  moment,  strip  the  subject  of  its  dangerous  results,  and 
view  it  as  a  matter  of  taste.  The  plea  of  emigration  to  this  country 
is,  tyranny.  The  tools  of  power,  whether  through  compulsion  or 
choice,  are  the  soldiers, — who  are  pleasing  to  the  rulers  by  their 
pliant  subserviency — and  hateful  to  the  people  by  their  uniforms,  their 
badge  of  office.  Accustomed  to  view  the  soldier,  and  his  constant 
presence,  with  a  feeling  of  dread, — uncertain  at  what  moment  his 
power  might  be  exercised  on  him, — the  foreigner  has  little  of  ease  or 
security  associated  in  his  reminiscences  of  their  tinselled  trappings. 
In  the  hovel,  the  dwelling,  or  the  palatial  residence,  they  are  always 
present ;  in  village,  town,  or  city,  they  are  ever  tramping.  Their  acts 
are  servile,  and  their  impulse  tyrannical.  Associated  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  with  cruelty  and  oppression, — bearing  on  their  persons  the 
livery  of  tyranny,  and  enforcing  its  mandates  with  an  undisguised 
zest, — the  foreigner  is  happy  to  flee  their  presence,  and  escape  their 
power.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  these  associations,  and  the  dread  inspired 
by  them,  they  form  themselves  into  volunteer  companies,  on  their 
arrival  here,  and  adopt  the  very  uniforms  which  have  oppressed  them 
with  fear,  thus  wilfully  assuming  the  badge  of  tyrants.  The  folly  (we 
might  use  a  stronger  expression)  of  this  taste  must  be  apparent  to  all 
who  think  about  the  matter,  and  is  one  of  such  peculiar  import,  that 
we  seek  in  vain  a  reasonable  excuse  for  its  adoption.  It  is  so  much 
at  variance  with  all  our  conceived  notions  of  the  impulses  which 
govern  the  human  breast,  and  is  so  glaring  in  its  inconsistency,  that 


232  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA 

we  are  forced  to  reflect  upon  it  with  some  degree  of  apprehension, 
and  look  with  a  feeling  of  dread  at  its  ultimate  operation. 

These  foreign-accoutred  regiments  are  found  in  every  large  city 
throughout  the  Union.  There  is  not  a  single  petty  nationality  in 
Germany  but  has  its  military  representatives  amongst  our  citizeu- 
soldiers — German  in  blood,  feelings,  language,  and  dress;  German 
in  their  officers  and  organization.  France  has  given  us  fac-similes  of 
those  troops  who  perpetrated  the  atrocities  of  the  sanguinary  dema 
gogues  of  her  first  revolution — troops  who,  in  1848,  stormed  Koine 
and  annihilated  the  Italian  republic.  Austria  presents  us  with  the 
counterparts  of  those  ruffians  who,  under  the  butcher  Ilaynau,  whip 
ped  delicate  women  to  death,  and  waded  knee-deep  in  blood  through 
the  plains  of  Italy  and  Hungary.  Even  contemptible  little  Hesse — 
whose  hireling  soldiery  became  so  odious  to  our  forefathers  in  the 
Revolution,  and  were  the  laughing-stock  of  their  English  comrades — 
even  Hesse  has  her  representatives  among  our  military.  But,  worst 
of  all,  Americans,  forgetting  the  glorious  traditions  of  their  country, 
and  relinquishing  every  claim  to  self-respect,,  adopt  the  livery  of  a 
foreign  prince — that  same  uniform  which  their  forefathers  used  so 
badly  at  Saratoga,  Trenton,  and  Yorktown. 

We  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  Americans  can  suffer  such 
outrages  of  all  decency,  such  contempt  for  the  historical  associations 
of  the  Revolution.  Where  is  the  Executive,  that  such  atrocities  arc 
permitted?  If  these  foreigners  must  become  soldiers,  why  are  they 
not  compelled  to  wear  the  uniform  of  the  United  States — that  dark 
gray  and  blue,  which  military  men  tell  us  is  most  suitable  lor  .such 
purposes  ?  But  no  !  our  feelings  must  be  outraged  to  meet  the  views 
of  political  hacks,  who  pander  to  the  prejudices  of  these  foreign  co 
horts,  for  vile  party  ends.  Is  the  Eagle  thus  to  be  insulted  in  her  own 
eyrie  ? 

There  is  a  motive,  an  intention  in  foreigners  banding  themselves 
together  in  military  companies.  Accustomed  in  their  own  country 
to  see  the  soldiery  paramount  to  the  civil  power,  they  hasten  to  clothe 
themselves  in  the  same  garb  of  power  here,  under  the  impression  that 


MILITARY   ORGANIZATION   OF   FOREIGNERS.  233 

they  thus  elevate  themselves  above  the  citizen,  perfectly  unconscious 
of  the  great  principle  of  our  government — that  the  civil  power  is  para 
mount  to  all  other.  Should  any  question  be  mooted  in  coming  time, 
in  which  their  jealousies  and  prejudices  are  enlisted  against  the  patri 
otism  of  this  country,  we  shall  bitterly  rue  our  shortsightedness  in 
placing  arms  in  the  hands  of  men,  who  cannot  appreciate  our  institu 
tions,  and  are  ever  ready  to  follow  demagogues  in  their  insidious  at 
tacks  on  the  country  and  the  Constitution.  We  have,  in  fact,  re 
moved  a  great  incentive  to  virtue,  by  giving  them  the  power  to  com 
mit  wrong. 

We  cannot  look  upon  the  armed  confederacy  of  foreigners,  clothed 
in  a  uniform  fashioned  upon  a  foreign  model,  without,  to  say  the  least, 
a  thought  of  its  impropriety,  and  the  entirely  anti- American  phase 
which  it  presents.  It  is  certainly  due  to  the  feelings  of  citizens  of  this 
country  who  guarantee  to  foreigners  the  liberties  they  enjoy  under 
our  laws,  that  some  degree  of  respect  should  be  paid  to  their  senti 
ments,  in  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  (if  foreign  companies  must  be 
formed),  which  will  not  insult  their  vision,  nor  interfere  with  their 
desire  of  having  a  citizen-soldiery,  entirely  American  in  appearance 
and  feeling,  although  its  individuals  may  be  of  foreign  birth. 

There  is  a  reason  of  great  moment,  which  characterizes  these  pecu 
liarly  constituted  companies  as  dangerous.  By  their  means  priest 
craft  is  enabled  to  maintain  a  strong  hold  upon  the  mind  and  im 
pulse  of  our  foreign  population,  and  even  to  effect  results  which  are 
contrary  to  the  Constitution  and  aim  of  our  government.  The  found 
ers  of  this  Republic  wisely  ordained  that  religion  and  politics  should 
not  be  associated  together.  Although  no  one  religion  is  recognized 
by  our  laws  as  paramount  to  another,  yet  no  one  will  deny  that  this 
country  is  essentially  Protestant — Protestant  in  its  foundation,  in  its 
principles,  in  its  impulse  and  education,  and  opposed  to  all  con 
nection  of  Church  and  State.  Were  no  other  proof  of  its  Protest 
antism  required,  it  could  be  found  in  its  liberality  towards  the  religi 
ous  sentiments  of  the  people,  in  allowing  them  freedom  of  thought 
and  opinion  in  the  matter  of  sect  or  tenet.  Were  it  a  Roman  Catho- 


234:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

lie  country,  all  other  denominations,  years  ago,  would  Lave  been,  by 
the  thunders  of  the  Vatican,  "  crushed  out,"  and  driven  from  its  face, 
even  though  it  required  the  aid  of  an  Inquisition  or  an  auto  da  fe. 
What  then  shall  we  say  to  the  priesthood  using  the  military  for  church 
display,  arid  making  the  Flag  of  our  Union  bow  in  obsequious  rev 
erence  to  the  Host?  We  are  at  a  loss  to  understand  by  what  author 
ity  a  mitred  priest  could  command  the  attendance  of  regiments  at  the 
consecration  of  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis  in  1834,  when,  amidst  the 
thunder  of  American  artillery,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  lowered  in 
idolatrous  veneration.  Such  scenes  as  these,  not  meeting  with  the 
merited  rebuke  from  the  people  that  their  gravity  demanded,  are  con 
sequently  persisted  in,  and  we  find  a  parallel  atrocity  repeated  in  the 
city  of  Brooklyn,  on  the  festival  of  Coitus  Christi. 

"  The  ceremonies  took  place  at  the  German  Romanist  Church,  lo 
cated  in  Montrose  Avenue,  Brooklyn,  in  that  section  of  the  late  city 
of  Williamsburg  known  as  '  Dutch  Town.'  The  neighborhood  being 
almost  exclusively  German,  the  characteristics  of  Fatherland  arc  visi 
ble  in  many  respects,  of  which  this  is  one  most  prominent.  The  day 
wore  the  appearance  of  the  Sabbath.  Labor  was  at  a  stand ;  the 
holiday-suit  was  donned,  and  the  principal  portion  of  the  people 
flocked  to  the  church  to  participate  in  the  services.  A  military  com 
pany  of  the  locality,  under  command  of  one  Captain  Maerz,  thorough 
ly  armed  and  equipped,  with  a  full  band,  was  on  the  ground.  At  10 
o'clock  the  church  was  filled  to  attend  mass,  and  hear  the  discourse 
for  the  occasion.  During  mass,  and  at  certain  intervals,  while  the 
organ  was  playing,  and  the  choir  and  congregation  chanting,  the 
military  company,  DRAWN  UP  IN  LINE  IN  FRONT  OF  THE  ALTAR,  pre 
sented  arms,  and  then  followed  in  quick  succession  the  roll  of  the 
drums,  the  sound  of  trumpets  inside  of  the  church,  and  loud  discharges 
of  fire-arms  outside  of  the  church.  This  was  repeated  several  times 
during  the  services.  The  church  was  decorated  with  evergreens,  and 
the  altar  with  flowers.  The  edifice  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity 
by  the  congregation.  At  the  close  of  the  semi-military  services,  the 
military  were  marched  into  the  street,  and  formed  in  front  of  the 


MILITARY    ORGANIZATION   OF    FOREIGNERS.  235 

church.  Some  further  ceremonies,  including  a  discharge  of  fire-arms 
at  the  side  of  the  church,  closed  the  services  of  the  morning.  The 
band  of  music  playing — the  military  proceeded  to  their  quarters,  fol 
lowed  by  an  immense  throng  of  spectators."* 

These  are  not  exceptional  instances,  but  proofs  among  many  others 
of  the  determination  of  the  Roman  hierarchy  to  obtain  power,  and 
hold  influence  over  the  minds  of  its  bigoted  followers,  by  any  and 
every  means  within  its  complicated  machinery. 

The  Romish  Church  is  far-seeing — it  sows  to-day,  knowing  that  a 
future  generation  will  reap  the  bitter  fruit.  Gradually  accustoming  the 
public  to  the  spectacle  of  the  military  in  alliance  with  ecclesiasticism, 
they  will  ultimately  claim  this  innovation  as  a  right,  and  our  soldiers 
will  be  looked  upon,  as  part  of  the  religious  power,  and  the  natural 
defenders  and  supporters  of  the  priesthood.  This  is  Rome's  aim,  and 
yet  our  legislators,  yea,  we  ourselves  neither  complain  nor  resist. 
Who  are  the  commanders  of  these  regiments  and  companies  ?  can  it 
be  that  they  willingly  accord  their  permission  to  such  conduct,  and 
consent  to  the  arms  and  accoutrements  of  the  State  being  employed 
for  such  purposes  ?  What  would  be  thought  of  the  Episcopalians, 
Baptists,  or  Methodists,  calling  out  the  military  to  assist  in  their  reli 
gious  services,  and  proclaiming  "  peace  and  good- will  towards  men" 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  ?  The  idea,  even,  is  ridiculous ;  and  yet 
we  permit  the  Romanists  to  persist  in  an  abuse  which  we  would 
immediately  and  deeply  resent  in  any  Protestant  denomination. 

We  contend  that  such  proceedings  are  not  merely  in  defiance  of 
the  feelings  of  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  country,  but  are  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  fundamental  principles  and  spirit  of  our  gov 
ernment.  The  Executive  is  the  only  authority  vested  with  power  to 
call  out  the  military,  yet  here  we  see  a  professedly  religious  body 
asserting  equal  power,  and  forming  an  imperium  in  imperio.  How 
is  it  possible  to  make  such  regiments  lose  their  national  charac 
teristics,  surrounded  as  they  are  with  a  foreign,  and  to  them  kindred 
population,  and  controlled  by  a  foreign  priesthood  ?  They  have 

*  See  the  New  York  Tribune,  June  9th,  1855. 


236  A   VOICE    TO    AMERICA. 

brought  the  bigotries  of  Papal  Germany  with  them,  and  Protestant 
America,  instead  of  passing  laws  for  the  restriction  of  these  militarv 
abuses,  by  her  guilty  silence  tacitly  consents  to  the  arrangement. 

The  wish  of  all  men  who  have  been  oppressed,  it  would  be  sup 
posed,  would  be  to  forget  the  uniforms  and  machinery  of  the  land  of 
their  oppression,  especially  its  political  ones,  and  to  banish  from  their 
sight  all  that  can  remind  them  of  a  former  tyrant,  most  especially 
when  they  are  the  recipients  of  the  blessings  of  Republican  institution*. 
As  long  as  these  foreign  organizations  exist,  the  public  mind  will  ho 
kept  in  a  ferment,  and  we  shall  be  constantly  startled  by  the  announce 
ments  of  disagreements  between  these  foreign  troops,  and  American 
officers,  commanding  divisions.  Ere  we  are  aware  of  it,  discord  will 
ensue,  and  blood  will  bo  shed. — the  fearful  consequence  of  which 
cannot  be  comprehended.  The  evils  existing  which  are  complained 
of,  and  the  terrible  catastrophes  wiiich  loom  up  in  the  future,  could 
all  be  avoided,  if  every  State  would  pass  laws  requiring  the  citizen- 
soldiery  to  wear  uniforms  sanctified  1y  American  associations — loved, 
because  they  have  only  been  worn  in  defence  of  freedom,  and  never 
disgraced  as  the  livery  of  foreign  potentates  or  mercenary  slaves. 


DEMORALIZING  INFLUENCE  OF  DEHAGOGIS1L 

li  For  his  thoughts  were  low, 
To  vice  industrious,  but  to  nobler  deeds 
.Tim'rous  and  slothful ;  yet  Tie  pleased  the  ear." 

MILTOX. 

ONE  of  the  most  pernicious  characters  brought  forth  by  the  abuse 
of  free  institutions  is  the  Demagogue.  His  business  is  to  obtain 
office  and  honors  by  corrupting  the  people.  This  degradation  of  can 
didates  for  office,  acts  upon  the  voters.  The  good  and  true  men  are 
not  appealed  to ;  the  scramble  is  to  secure  the  suffrages  of  the  igno 
rant  and  licentious,  which  are  always  for  sale.  A  controlling  minority 
of  the  "  sovereigns,"  in  this  country,  acquire  a  love  for  adulation, 
quite  equal  to  that  possessed  by  the  rulers  of  the  Old  World,  and  in 
stead  of  bestowing  their  favors  with  judgment  and  regard  to  the 
good  of  the  community,  they  are  to  be  solicited  by  gross  flattery, 
or  purchased  with  a  given  price.  The  true  standard  of  merit,  pri 
vate  worth,  and  acknowledged  capacity,  is  lost  in  personal  consider 
ations  ;  and  the  Demagogue  rides  into  office,  not  because  he  has 
shown  attention  to  any  useful  business,  but  because  he  has  blown 
his  own  trumpet,  degraded  himself  among  his  constituency,  and  won 
the  character,  among  the  thoughtless,  of  being  the  best  fellow  in  the 
State.  The  slime  of  his  contact  can  be  traced  among  the  members 
of  the  bar,  on  the  bench,  in  the  pulpit,  in  our  legislative  assemblies. 
The  Demagogue  is  the  professed  worshipper  of  the  sovereign  people. 
He  is  a  fawning  sycophant  at  the  foot  of  power, — ever  grovelling 
on  his  knees  in  the  dust,  ready  to  do  any  act,  however  debased,  per 
form  any  service,  however  wrong,  if  he  can  but  win  the  patron 
age  and  smiles  of  his  deity.  Change  the  relations  of  the  Demagogue 

11* 


238  A  VOICE   TO   AMEKICA. 

from  a  republican  to  monarchical  government,  and  lie  would  still  bo 
the  same,  r»nd,  true  to  his  ruling  passion,  worship  the  fountain  of 
power.  It  is  the  Demagogue  who  labors  to  retard  the  improvement 
©f  society,  who  endeavors  to  break  down  the  self-imposed  restraints 
so  necessary  to  make  a  good  citizen ;  who  tells  the  vicious  that  they 
are  good — the  ignorant  that  they  are  wise ;  who,  in  short,  demoralizes 
society,  by  always  appealing  to  the  passions  instead  of  the  reason  of 
the  people,  who  represent  the  sovereign  power. 

The  lust  of  office  which  generally  seems  to  bo  the  strongest  in 
the  minds  of  persons  least  capable  of  filling  them  with  honor,  gives 
rise  to  demagogism  ;  and  the  people,  occupied  by  the  various  avoca 
tions  of  life,  are  apt,  as  far  as  the  government  is  concerned,  to  al 
low  assumed  (self-elected)  leaders  to  do  their  thinking.  The  sub 
lime  privilege  granted  to  freemen,  of  choosing  their  public  servants 
is  thus  trifled  with,  and  hence  arise  most  of  the  glaring  evils  in  the 
working  of  our  free  institutions.  We  often  witness  in  members  of 
our  legislative  bodies,  an  appalling  recklessness  with  regard  to  their 
pledges  made  before  election,  and  also  in  their  private  life.  We 
find  at  Washington,  as  well  as  in  our  State  capitals,  an  infinitely 
lower  standard  of  morals  among  public  men,  than  is  demanded  of 
the  same  individuals  in  the  communities  in  which  they  reside. 

The  regime  of  the  Demagogue  is  secured  through  different  causes, 
all,  however,  subversive  of  the  strength  of  our  free  institutions. 
The  neglect  of  intelligent  voters  to  attend  the  polls,  and  a  general 
indifference  to  the  machinery  which  brings  candidates  before  tho 
people,  are  perhaps  among  the  most  pernicious.  Americans  who 
thus  trifle  with  the  sacred  privileges  of  their  birthright,  excuse 
themselves  upon  the  ground,  that  the  business  of  politics  is  distaste 
ful,  and  the  associations  around  the  ballot-box  and  the  unworthiness 
of  candidates  cause  them  to  stay  at  home.  The  consequences  of 
this  criminal  apathy  are  becoming  every  day  more  apparent  in  tho 
acknowledged  utter  incapacity  of  a  largo  majority  of  our  public  men, 
and  in  the  disgraceful  scenes  that  attend  the  carnivals  of  every  legis 
lative  body. 


DEMORALIZING   INFLUENCE   OF   DEMAGOGISM.         239 

The  chief  source  of  demagogism,  however,  is  the  constant  in 
gress  into  our  country  of  ignorant  foreigners,  not  always  destitute 
of  literary  cultivation,  but  entirely  without  any  practical  knowledge 
of  our  institutions.  The  Demagogues  proclaim,  through  the  pen  and 
from  the  stump,  that  our  republican  form  of  government  can  only 
exist  by  virtue  of  intelligence  and  morality  among  the  governed, 
and  in  the  next  breath  they  tell  the  undisciplined  and  ignorant  im 
migrant,  that  he  has  the  capacity  and  the  right,  from  the  day  he 
lands  upon  our  shores,  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  claims  of  our 
candidates  for  office,  and  to  participate  in  all  the  privileges  enjoyed 
by  Americans,  who  add  to  their  birthright  and  descent  the  disci 
pline  acquired  from  law-abiding  habits,  and  a  life-long  practice  in  the 
science  of  self-government.  The  foreigner  may  have  democratic 
opinions,  but  the  American  has  a  democratic  character  as  well  as 
democratic  opinions ;  and  bath  these  qualities  are  essential  to  make 
a  person  fit  to  perform,  intelligently,  the  duties  of  American  citizen 
ship. 

The  Demagogue,  finding  that  the  priest  has  an  uncontrolled  power 
over  the  immigrants,  seeks  to  secure  his  influence,  tha-t  he  may  ob 
tain  the  support  of  his  priestly  authority  at  the  polls.  The  proposi 
tion  is,  "  Secure  me  office,  and  I  will  secure  you  the  interests  of  your 
church."  The  effect  is  seen  in  the  action  of  our  legislative  bodies, 
who  grant  exclusive  privileges  and  enormous  donations  to  the  Rom 
ish  Church,  while  they  rudely  deny  the  same  privileges  and  dona 
tions  to  Protestant  denominations.  And  why  ?  Because  no  Pro 
testant  clergyman  can  control  the  votes  of  his  parishioners.  Xo 
freeman  accustomed  to  judge  for  himself  will  submit  even  to  advice, 
unasked,  much  less  dictated  to,  in  a  matter  purely  political.  Innu 
merable  instances  might  be  given  of  the  invidious  special  legislation 
referred  to,  either  accomplished  or  attempted.  Our  readers  will 
remember  the  struggle  made  by  this  spirit  of  demagogism,  direct 
ed  by  priestcraft,  to  break  up  the  unity  of  the  public  school  sys 
tem  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  to  throw  a  large  part  of  the 
money  advanced  by  tax-payers,  and  appropriated  for  the  education 


240  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

of  all  the  children  of  the  State,  into  the  hands  of  foreign  ecclesiastics, 
to  be  used  by  them  for  sectarian  and  proselyting-  purposes.  The 
Romish  priests  obtained  a  few  years  ago,  from  the  Common  Council 
of  New  York  city,  a  grant  of  thirty-two  lots  of  land  without  any  con 
sideration  whatever !  while  at  the  same  time,  a  Protestant  Benevolent 
Association,  for  much  less  valuable  property  in  the  immediate  vicin 
ity,  was  made  to  pay  thirty-eight  thousand  dollars.  AVlien  Bishop 
Hughes  opened  his  Cemetery  at  Xewtown,  he  obtained  a  special 
ordinance,  exempting  those  who  used  it  from  the  necessity  of  ob 
taining  "  permits"  from  the  City  Inspector,  such  as  are  demanded 
from  individuals  of  all  other  denominations  when  they  bury  the 
dead.  This  special  legislation  in  favor  of  Romish  priests  will  bo 
found  to  have  taken  place  in  almost  every  State.  It  is  the  substan 
tial  reward  which  that  cunning  hierarchy  seek,  in  exchange  for  their 
political  influence ;  and  they  will  be  able  to  traffic  it  oil'  at  high 
prices,  as  long  as  the  people  are  too  supine  to  eject  the  Demagogues 
from  the  public  service,  and  to  find,  and  employ  in  it,  only  the  honest 
and  capable. 

But  the  Demagogue  does  not  confine  himself  to  this  quiet  tam 
pering  with  the  priests,  who  hold  the  reins  over  so  many  of  the  im 
migrating  population.  They  aspire  also  to  win  the  "most  sweet 
voices"  of  the  strangers,  by  appealing  immediately  to  their  vanity  and 
their  passions.  Our  immigrant  population  having  never  felt  in 
their  native  land,  any  other  relation  towards  the  established  laws, 
than  that  of  the  oppressed  to  the  oppressor,  and  having  been  habit 
ually  compelled  to  a  blind,  yet  unwilling  obedience,  understand 
therefore  by  liberty,  only  the  power  to  set  the  restraints  of  the  law 
at  defiance,  and  to  violate  its  commands  with  impunity.  Arriving 
in  the  United  States,  they  are  at  once  seized  upon  by  the  Dema 
gogue.  He  flatters  them  with  the  wildest  delusions  as  to  their  value 
in  this  country,  and  as  to  the  motives  of  their  coming,  which  lie 
impudently  perverts,  even  in  defiance  of  their  own  knowledge.  He 
informs  them,  that  to  them  the  country  is  indebted,  not  only  for 
its  freedom,  but  for  its  wealth.  He  ascribes  to  them  and  their  pre- 


DEMORALIZING  INFLUENCE  OF  DEMAGOGISM.        241 

decessors  in  their  westward  journey,  the  vast  internal  improvements 
of  our  land ;  as  if,  forsooth,  Irishmen  had  dug  and  built  our  thou 
sands  of  miles  of  canals,  and  our  tens  of  thousands  of  miles  of  rail 
roads,  had  tunnelled  our  mountains,  and  bridged  our  rivers,  out  of 
pure  benevolence  and  kindness,  to  assist  our  helpless  nation !  He 
informs  them  that  their  coming  here  is  a  voluntary  tribute  to  our 
republican  institutions ;  that,  instead  of  being  accidentally  related  to 
our  form  of  government,  as,  according  to  the  Demagogue,  the  natives 
are,  they,  the  immigrants,  occupy  the  superior  position  of  those  who 
select  with  great  care  the  form  of  government  under  which  they 
choose  to  live. 

Readily  swallowing  such  pleasant  flatteries,  the  gullible  foreigner 
loses  all  respect  for  the  men  or  the  institutions  of  his  adopted  coun 
try.  Every  necessary  prescription  of  the  law  is  resented ;  its  power, 
although  the  legitimate  will  of  .the  majority,  is  as  odious  as  if  ema 
nating  from  his  European  rulers,  and  never  having  learned  any  self- 
restraints,  he  neither  can  nor  will  make  nor  appreciate  the  sacrifices 
which  freemen  are  daily  called  upon  to  make  for  the  sake  of  the 
public  weal. 

Amongst  the  natives  of  his  own  country,  our  Demagogue  does 
not  find  so  fertile  a  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  snaky  gifts.  Yet, 
even  there,  as  there  are  always  many  less  wise  than  the  wisest,  the 
Demagogue,  although  he  may  not  be  able  to  cram  his  patients  with 
such  gross  concoctions  as  he  serves  up  to  the  degraded  foreigner, 
contrives  to  accomplish  much  evil  by  dexterously  gilding  the  pill  he 
administers.  Whatever  may  be  the  weakness  of  his  audience,  what 
ever  their  error ;  whether  they  are  right  or  wrong,  he  preaches  their 
doctrine.  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei,  he  cries — the  people's  voice  is  God'a 
voice  :  he  demonstrates  to  them  that  they  must  be  right,  and  mod 
estly  intimates  that  his  complete  conviction  of  that  fact  makes  him 
the  only  fit  man  to  accomplish  their  will.  They  may  safely  trust  in 
him,  and  in  his  servile  obedience,  until  there  shall  appear  something 
or  somebody  offering  a  higher  bribe. 

The  American  Demagogue  is  a  shameless  monster,  without  par- 


242  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

allel,  without  compeer.  He  stands  alone  in  the  infamy  of  his  con 
duct,  solitary  in  the  sublime  prostitution  of  his  intellect,  in  the  utter 
corruption  of  his  heart.  His  is  the  double  guilt  of  the  sinner,  who 
sins  against  clear  light.  Born  in  a  nation  peculiarly  founded,  and 
maintained  by  disinterested  patriotism,  he  considers  the  love  of  coun 
try  only  narrow-mindedness,  and  almost  thinks  it  treason  to  be  proud 
of  being  born  a  citizen  of  the  Republic.  In  a  commonwealth,  of 
which  integrity  and  disinterested  public  spirit  are  the  very  life,  he 
lives  without  principle  or  patriotism,  whiffling  about  at  every  wind 
of  political  doctrine,  and  outwardly  bowing  with  supple  knees  to  the 
popular  idol  of  the  hour,  while  all  the  time,  careless  either  of  the 
nation  or  of  right,  the  secret  devotion  of  all  his  little  selfish  heart  is 
expended  in  the  idolatrous  worship  of  his  own  purposes.  Believing 
nothing,  he  puts  on  by  turns  the  semblance  of  belief  in  every  thing. 
He  manufactures  facts,  statistics,  history,  philosophy,  religion,  to  or 
der,  to  suit  his  customers.  He  has  passions  always  at  command. 
Tears  or  smiles  are  squeezed  out,  to  suit  the  occasion,  and  the  doc 
trine  of  t*he  day  "  commands  his  hearty  support  and  consistent  ad 
vocacy,"  as  did  the  doctrine  of  yesterday,  and  as  also  will  the  doc 
trine  of  to-morrow. 

At  the  magnetic  touch  of  interest  he  flies,  like  a  telegraphic 
dispatch,  back  and  forth  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  longest 
and  most  divergent  lines  of  belief.  Is  a  law  popular  ?  it  is  pre 
cisely  what  he  always  knew  was  needed.  Does  it  become  unpop 
ular?  he  had  always  considered  it  oppressive,  unconstitutional, 
and  unnecessary.  He  would  sacrifice  the  well-being  of  the  nation 
for  an  office;  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  commonwealth,  and  his 
own  conscience  into  the  bargain — no  great  addition,  to  be  sure — 
for  a  better  salary  or  a  fat  job.  He  would  defame  his  native  land 
to  secure  an  election ;  he  would  spit  on  the  graves  of  his  forefathers 
to  gain  a  vote.  For  the  base  support  of  foreign  priests,  the  vo(;>s 
of  besotted  immigrants,  he  will  falsify  history,  and  belie  the  fame  of 
a  thousand  heroes.  To  gain  such  an  object,  lie  can  find  but  one 
American  who  was  distinguished  in  our  Revolutionary  struggle, 


DEMORALIZING   INFLUENCE   OF   DEMAGOGISM.         243 

and  he  would  name  as  that  one,  Benedict  Arnold  !  He  would 
announce  that  the  brunt  of  that  fearful  strife  was  borne  by  foreign 
ers,  and  that  our  Revolutionary  battles  were  won  for  us  by  the 
personal  prowess  of  Lafayette,  of  Montgomery,  of  De  Kalb. 

Do  our  naturalized  citizens  murmur  at  any  restraints  upon  their 
actions,  at  any  laws  and  legal  prohibitions,  unusual  to  them — the 
Demagogue  seizes  the  occasion,  and  eagerly  strives  to  ride  into 
office.  He  inflames  the  brutal  rage  of  the  mob ;  he  goads  angry 
men  to  murder  and  sedition ;  he  shrinks  not  from  awaking  all 
the  horrors  of  licentiousness  and  anarchy,  from  stirring  up  whirl 
winds  of  baleful  passions,  if  only  his  own  dear  objects  may  be 
attained  by  the  crime.  It  is  always  easier  to  persuade  to  evil 
than  to  persuade  to  good.  Poor  human  nature  needs  very  little 
impulse  in  the  path  of  wTrong.  Our  laws  and  constitutions  are 
not  made  as  iron  fetters  and  shackles  are  made,  to  grip  and  chain 
the  ferocious  violence  of  stubborn  felons  or  murdering  maniacs — 
they  are  made  to  guide  the  wise  and  congenial  conduct  of  men 
seeking  to  do  right.  The  Demagogue  takes  advantage  of  this  to 
pervert  the  privilege  of  goodness  into  an  occasion  of  crime  ;  to 
the  downward  tendency  of  all  the  lower  and  viler  parts  of  men's 
nature ;  to  the  exaggerated  passions  and  blind  brutality,  the  foolish 
prejudices  and  dogged  obstinacy,  of  all  the  dregs  of  the  community, 
of  the  untaught,  the  vicious,  and  the  lawless  ;  to  the  fearful  mo 
mentum  of  this  mass  of  dangerous  and  explosive  elements,  the  Dem 
agogue  lends  all  the  energies  of  his  being.  He  throws  all  his 
weight  to  sink  the  fortunes  of  his  country ;  he  drags  downward 
with  all  his  might,  towards  the  destruction  of  his  native  land.  With 
the  recklessness  of  the  madman,  but  with  more  method  in  his  mad 
ness,  and  therefore  more  dangerous  effect,  he  "  casts  firebrands,  arrows, 
and  death."  He  cares  not  if  he  witness  the  conflao-ration  of  the 

O 

whole  Republic ;  for  he  intends  to  fill  his  own  pockets  by  the  thefts 
which  he  hopes  to  commit  with  impunity  during  the  confusion. 

God  has  not  left  any  evil  without  providing  a  remedy,  although 
he  often  leaves  men  to  use  it.  The  dark  portrait  which  we  have 


2M  A   VOICE   TO   AMEEICA. 

drawn,  is  not  that  of  a  necessary  incubus  upon  our  body  politic. 
The  Demagogue,  the  scourge  of  republics,  only  exists  by  suffer 
ance.  When  the  good  and  true  men  of  the  nation  arise  and 
act,  this  villain  is  crowded  off  the  stage.  It  is  now  as  it  was  in 
the  homely  but  inspired  parable  of  the  Scriptures :  "  While  the 
husbandman  sleeps,  the  enemy  sows  tares."  It  is  only  when  the 
right  men  neglect  their  duty,  and  leave  their  posts  vacant,  that 
the  Demagogue  can  occupy  the  scene  of  action ;  can  perform  his 
fantastic  tricks,  and  concoct  his  unprincipled  schemes ;  can  mar 
shal  his  foolish  regiments,  and  accomplish  his  vile  undertakings. 
He  lives  by  sufferance,  and  although  his  guilt  is  his  own,  yet  hon 
est  men  must  remember  that  upon  them  rests  the  responsibility  of 
permitting  his  sin  to  succeed.  Upon  their  heads,  after  all,  will  lie 
the  fearful  responsibility  of  having,  by  criminal  supineness,  permit 
ted  the  enactment  of  all  the  wickedness  which  Demagogues  perpe 
trate. 


WHAT  CONSTITUTES  THE  RIGHT  TO  VOTE? 

"  The  preservation  of  the  sacred  fire  of  liberty,  and  the  destiny  of  the  republican  model  of  gov 
ernment,  are  justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally,  staked  on  the  experiment  intrusted  to 
the  hands  of  the  American  people."— WASHIXGIOX. 

ALL  human  rights  are  either  natural  or  acquired.  They  must 
either  reside  in  the  individual,  co-equal  with  his  life  and  the  varied 
faculties  of  his  nature,  or  become  delegated  to  him  by  concession,  by 
compromise,  or  by  some  specific  compact  to  which  he  is  a  legitimate 
party. 

Natural  rights  are  absolute  and  inalienable :  they  rely  on  no  pre 
sumptions  of  an  arbitrary  character,  but  are  fully  prescribed  and  or 
dained  with  the  existence  of  man.  Whether  exercised  or  not,  a  man 
cannot,  by  any  enactment,  be  divested  of  their  proper  and  positive 
possession.  They  may  be  yielded  to  the  unlawful  encroachments  of 
other  men,  but  the  concession  is  merely  temporary,  and  cannot  be 
considered  to  invalidate  the  individual's  privilege  of  resuming  their 
exercise  at  such  time  as  he  may  think  proper. 

All  men,  says  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  are  born  free  and 
equal ;  they  possess  certain  inalienable  rights,  such  as  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness.  These  are  their  natural  endowments,  and 
by  no  lawful  process  can  they  be  taken  from  them.  The  Bill  of 
Rights,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Colonial  Deputies  at  Philadelphia, 
previous  to  the  Declaration,  declared  that  the  people  were  entitled  to 
life,  liberty,  and  property  ;  and  that  they  had  never  ceded  to  any 
sovereign  power  whatever  a  right  to  dispose  of  either,  without  their 
consent. 

These  inheritances,  therefore,  belong  to  us  by  nature.  One  man 
possesses  them  as  largely  as  another.  Factitious  circumstances  can- 


246  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

not  enlarge  their  limits,  nor  can  oppression  and  usurpation  contrac; 
them.  Wherever  a  human  being  is  to  be  found,  there  these  right; 
of  necessity  exist.  They  owe  nothing  of  their  strength  to  conven 
tional  usages  and  laws,  nor  are  they  sustained  in  any  fuller  force  be 
cause  they  may  happen  to  commend  themselves  to  the  approbation 
of  enlightened  men.  They  are  rooted  in  the  individual,  and  canno 
by  any  violence  be  wrested  from  his  nature:  they  are  among  the 
necessary  conditions  of  his  being. 

Acquired  rights  exist  by  a  different  tenure.  They  hold  their  tiile 
either  by  concession,  by  compromise,  or  by  compact.  Their  prerou  • 
ative  is  more  nicely  defined.  Certain  limits  bound  them,  beyond, 
•which  their  progress  is  forbidden.  They  are  described  with  accuracy  , 
and  secured  by  due  processes  of  legal  enactment.  Of  such  are  the 
privileges  of  the  subject,  or  the  citizen.  The  former  holds  his  by  vir 
tue  of  a  kingly  concession  or  compromise  ;  in  either  case  admitting  th.-. 
subject  to  rights  and  prerogatives  which  he  does  not  naturally  posses-. 
The  latter  enjoys  his  by  virtue  of  his  compact  with  the  general  au 
thority  of  which  he  is  a  component  part. 

It  is  only  of  the  rights  of  the  citizen  that  we  propose  to  speak  ii 
this  place — all  others  being  foreign  to  the  subject  under  consideratioi 
— and  not  of  the  natural,  but  of  the  acquired,  rights  of  the  citizen. 

As  the  human  race  is  constituted,  its  entire  history  illustrates  th< 
imperative  necessity  of  some  method  of  social  organization.  Lei!  t< 
themselves,  all  things  would  immediately  relapse  into  a  condition  o: 
misrule  and  barbarism.  Certain  powers  must  be  vested  in  certain  in 
dividuals,  from  whom,  by  a  reverse  process,  all  acts  of  authority  arc 
to  emanate.  Influences  which  one  individual  would  not  permit  any 
indifferent  person  to  exercise  over  himself  and  his  interest s  by  a  eon 
sent,  either  expressed  or  implied,  he  freely  allows  some  other  person 
to  exert  without  protest  or  opposition. 

Hence  arise  forms  of  government  that  give  character  to  the  deed 
of  men,  and   shape  the   destiny  of  nations.     Hence   en^ue  (!(•• 
edicts,  proclamation:'-,  and  laws.     These  evidences  of  authority  testifv 
everywhere  to  the  admitted  necessity  of  some  ruling  and  guidiiu- 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES   THE   RIGHT   TO    VOTE?  247 

power.  They  are  an  expression  of  the  opinion  of  all  men,  that  a  con 
trolling  authority  of  some  character  is  demanded  by  every  considera 
tion  of  human  welfare. 

There  can  exist  but  two  general  forms  of  government,  let  the  spe 
cific  titles  of  the  various  kinds  of  authority  be  what  they  may.  Every 
government  must  be  either  arbitrary  or  constitutional.  Every  thing 
that  tends  to  usurpation,  or  that  operates  to  defraud  individuals  of  the 
enjoyment  of  their  natural  rights,  no  matter  in  what  cause  or  name 
professed,  belongs  to  absolutism  and  arbitrariness.  Some  govern- 
.ments  style  themselves  constitutional,  whose  very  constitutions  arc 
arbitrary  in  themselves,  and  do  not  receive  their  vitality  from  any  co 
operation  of  the  popular  will.  Their  practices  give  the  lie  to  their 
professions,  proving  them  what'  they  wish  to  avoid  seeming  to  be. 
Principles  strike  their  root  much  deeper  than  professions,  and  by  their 
natural  fruits  their  true  character  is  understood. 

Constitutional  or  voluntary  forms  of  government  derive  their  au 
thority  from  the  immediate  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  is  the  only 
source  of  their  power.  They  are  but  the  emphatic  expression  of  the 
popular  will,  and,  as  that  will  changes  its  direction,  must  they  alter 
the  direction  of  their  authority. 

The  American  Government  is  of  the  strictly  constitutional  form. 
No  powers  reside  in  it  but  those  delegated  by  the  people,  who  are  its 
founders.  It  derives  no  authority  from  usurpation,  but  the  whole  of 
it  from  voluntary  cession.  Its  existence  and  its  strength  alike  depend 
upon  the  spirit  and  intelligence  of  those  who  give  it  vitality  and  sup 
port.  Its  powers  are  every  one  carefully  described  and  defined.  Its 
prerogatives  have  a  fixed  and  unalterable  limit.  The  natural  rights 
of  man  are  not  invaded  by  any  of  its  usurpations,  but  are  retained  in 
violate  by  the  individual,  and  guarded  from  aggression  with  a  jealous 
watchfulness. 

Indeed,  *he  question  is  seriously  agitated  under  this  auspicious  form 
of  2,'overnment — How  much  is  it  profitable  for  a  man  to  be  gov 
erned  ?  How  far  is  it  best  for  him  to  yield  up  his  own  rights  in  the 
name  of  the  welfare  of  the  whole  ?  Where  shall  the  dividing  line  be 


MS  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

drawn  that  is  to  separate  the  control  of  one's  self  from  the  control  >f 
a  voluntarily  constructed  authority?  From  the  discussion  of  such  a 
question  various  conclusions  have,  at  different  times,  been  arrived  a  ; 
and,  among  others,  that  "that  is  the  best  government  which  governs 
men  the  least."  This  seems  almost  to  have  become  an  nphorisn  ; 
and  the  spirit  of  the  idea  is  by  no  means  inoperative  in  the  gener  il 
workings  of  our  political  system. 

Under  our  government  no  man  is  a  subject — all  men  are  citizens  ; 
because  it  is  never  acknowledged  that  the  government,  deriving  i  s 
existence  primarily  from  the  individual,  is  superior  in  itself  to  its  oii- 
gin.  In  the  nature  of  things,  it  could  not  be.  A  citizen  is  in  i  o 
manner  a  subject,  nor  can  a  subject  be  a  citizen.  However  specious 
may  be  the  reasoning  that  seeks  to  make  the  two  characters  seem 
compatible  with  one  another,  their  differences  are  too  wide  to  be  re  !- 
oncilable.  The  subject  makes  concessions  that  the  citizen  won  «1 
not  admit.  The  subject  lacks  inherent  power,  not  because  lie  h,"s 
delegated  it  to  another,  but  because  he  never  yet  was  allowed  its  po;- 
session  or  exercise.  By  the  citizen  it  has  been  vested  in  other  ham  s 
for  the  very  purpose  of  its  more  safe  and  careful  administration;  re 
verting  to  him  after  stated  intervals,  to  be  again  trusted  to  other  d<  - 
positaries  for  the  same  general  purpose  of  a  healthful  and  constitu 
tional  exercise. 

Citizenship,  therefore,  implies  no  ordinary  privileges.  Its  possessi<  i 
argues  from  the  individual  directly  to  the  government.  It  connect 
the  man  with  all  the  operations  of  the  laws  and  the  whole  scope  <  f 
public  institutions,  and  associates  him  in  close  relations  with  whatever 
belongs  to  the  common  welfare.  It  removes  the  many  tendencies  1  > 
selfishness  and  egotism  in  his  permitted  pursuits,  and  makes  him  larir. , 
comprehensive,  and  generous  in  his  conduct  and  views.  It  wide;  s 
the  sphere  of  individual  sentiment  and  action,  so  that  a  man  may  at 
the  same  time  be  true  to  his  own  interest,  and  not  forgetful  of  tl:-; 
vast  and  complicated  interests  of  the  whole. 

In  fine,  citizenship  can  be  enjoyed  only  where  men  are  free.  '!  i 
any  other  condition,  the  character  of  the  possession  at  once  is  change'  1, 


WHAT  CONSTITUTES  THE   RIGHT  TO  VOTE?  24$) 

being  held  on  terms  that  impliedly  declare  the  government  to  be  ar 
bitrary,  and  the  people  to  be  subjects.  It  belongs  only  to  institutions 
that  are  democratic  in  their  nature,  and  to  states  of  society  in  which 
men  are  the  arbiters  of  their  own  rights  and  fortunes. 

For  the  possession  of  such  prerogatives  there  certainly  should  be  some 
rigid  and  absolute  qualifications.  To  put  one's  self  in  direct  relation 
ship  with  the  moral  and  social  interests  of  a*  great  nation,  it  should  be 
insisted  that  there  exist  certain  preliminary  conditions.  Such  a  rela 
tionship  should  not  be  rashly  entered  upon,  nor  without  serious  thought 
of  the  mutual  result  to  both  the  individual  and  the  mass.  The  gov 
ernment,  relying  on  the  intelligence  and  understanding  of  each  one 
of  the  vast  number  that  contribute  to  its  character,  it  must  be  seen 
that  no  single  violation  of  the  conditions  of  such  a  connection  can 
pass  without  its  proper  share  of  wrong  to  the  whole.  If  the  individ 
ual  forgets  his  duty  as  a  party  to  the  general  compact,  the  rest  are 
defrauded  of  that  moral  and  political  security  for  which  they  had  a 
perfect  right  to  hold  him  responsible.  If  he  neglect  the  obligations 
of  his  oath  and  pledge,  the  rest  are  so  far  losers  by  his  act  of  repudi 
ation.  If  he  be  a  tool  in  the  designing  hands  of  those  who  intrigue 
for  the  overthrow  of  political  freedom,  the  entire  nation  is  to  that  de 
gree  involved  in  the  web  of  fear  and  insecurity. 

The  origin  of  all  government  is  property ;  the  manner  in  which 
that  property  is  held  determines  its  form.  If  the  lands  of  a  commu 
nity  have  but  one  possessor,  it  is  an  autocracy ;  if  partitioned  by  a  few, 
an  aristocracy ;  if  the  inherent  right  of  the  whole  people,  this  forms 
a  democracy.  Res-republica,  common-wealth,  represent,  not  merely 
the  form,  but  the  basis  of  government. 

Man  is  entitled  to  sustenance  and  protection  from  that  society  in 
which  nature  places  him  at  birth.  There  are,  however,  certain  causes 
which  may  compel  him  to  forsake  one  community  for  another.  What 
relation  do  his  acquired  privileges  bear  to  the  rights  of  the  new  so 
ciety  ? 

A  stranger  can  only  acquire  property  in  a  foreign  community  by 
permission  of  the  owners — that  is,  the  state.  But  in  acquiring  this, 


250  A   VOICE   TO   AMEKICA. 

is  ho  necessarily  entitled  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  natives  ?  Becau& 
lie  has  forsaken  the  land  of  his  birth,  is  the  land  of  his  adoption  com 
pelled  by  any  law,  human  or  divine,  to  place  him  on  a  perfect  equaliu 
with  her  own  children  ?  By  the  political  constitution  of  the  ne\v  so 
ciety  he  may  enjoy  all  their  privileges,  but,  in  the  nature  of  things 
he  has  not,  and  never  can  have,  such  a  rig] it  to  them  as  the  sons  o' 
the  soil.  That  which  isjpanted  as  a  favor,  can  never  be  asserted  a; 
a  right. 

In  a  republic  the  power  is  in  the  hands  of  the  whole  people,  for  tlu 
entire  land  is  theirs.  For  convenience  in  legislation  they  appoint  11101 
to  represent  their  interests,  hence  the  representative  is  the  servant  o ' 
the  represented.  This  is  obvious:  no  man  can  represent  the  interest 
of  others  unless  delegated  so  to  do ;  this  power  conferred  necessarih 
subjects  him  to  the  will  of  those  who  bestow  the  office.  Hence  no  inai 
has  a  right  to  office,  which  it  may  be  in  the  power  of  others  to  refuse 

Representatives  having  to  be  chosen,  there  arises  a  monienfou.- 
question — What  gives  the  right  to  vote?  We  have  shown  tha 
where  the  right  to  property  belongs  to  all,  power  is  universal ;  there 
fore,  suffrage  must  be  universal.  But  we  must  define  this,  in  regard 
to  men  who  have  not  a  lorn-right  in  the  country,  but  simply  one  of 
tolerance  or  permission. 

Government  takes  cognizance  of  the  entire  property  of  the  country, 
that  is  to  say,  the  land  and  its  products  belonging  to  the  sous  of  tlu 
soil — the  entire  community  decide  (by  representation  or  otherwise) 
in  the  general  interest.  Strangers  arriving  in  their  midst  receive  as  ii 
gift  a  certain  portion  of  that  which  is  the  right  only  of  the  native- 
born.  Is  it  logical  to  assert  that  this  gift  carries  with  it  the  right  to 
vote,  or,  in  other  words,  to  legislate  for  those  who  have  just  grantee 
what  it  was  in  their  power  to  refuse  ?  Such  an  argument  is  mon 
strous,  yet  it  is  one  which  we  hear  constantly  asserted. 

Escape  from  the  then  existing  systems  of  European  government,  a.- 
well  as  from  its  religious  hierarchies,  prompted  our  forefathers  to  set 
tie  what  were  termed  the  American  colonies.  In  process  of  tiiiK 
they  achieved  a  separate  nationality  in  regard  to  other  countries,  L, 


WHAT  CONSTITUTES  THE  RIGHT  TO   VOTE?  251 

federation  of  states  to  themselves,  in  which  each  state  was  independ 
ent  of  the  others. 

"  The  character  of  our  people  was  admirably  calculated  for  setting 
the  great  example  of  popular  government.  They  were  accustomed 
to  representative  bodies  and  the  forms  of  free  government ;  they  un 
derstood  the  doctrine  of  the  division  of  power  among  different 
branches,  and  the  necessity  of  checks  on  each.  The  character  of  our 
countrymen,  moreover,  was  sober,  moral,  and  religious."* 

This  portraiture  forms  an  obvious  opinion  on  claims  set  up  by  dem 
agogues  and  others  in  favor  of  the  so-called  rights  of  our  foreign  pop 
ulation.  The  entire  body  of  emigrants  to  this  country  for  many  years 
past,  with  but  few  exceptions,  never  exerted  the  slightest  control  over 
any  government  whatsoever :  are  we  then  to  be  told  that  such  men  can 
appreciate  and  properly  wield  the  electoral  power  in  a  country,  the 
political  constitution  of  which  is  so  difficult  to  understand  ?  Besides, 
is  the* moral  character  of  these  emigrants  calculated  to  remove  any 
fears  we  may  entertain  relative  to  the  uses  to  which  they  will  put 
this  novel  power  ?  "We  take  it  experience  is  very  much  inclined  to  a 
negative. 

There  is  no  principle  in  the  American  Constitution  which  guaran 
tees  land  or  political  power,  by  vote  or  otherwise,  to  foreign  citizens. 
These  men  do  not  leave  Europe  as  did  the  first  settlers  of  this  conti 
nent  ;  they  are,  in  fact,  dissimilar  in  every  respect.  Europe  disgorges 
a  surplus  population — people  she  can  best  afford  to  lose  :  they  arrive 
in  forma  pauperis,  and  our  authorities  permit  them  to  reside.  In 
process  of  time  they  begin  to  have  a  stake  in  the  country,  and  maybe 
lose  their  ancient  prejudices;  they  are  permitted  to  vote  at  elections. 
But  they  have  not,  and  never  can  have,  the  same  right,  either  to  one  or 
the  other,  which  a  native-born  citizen  possesses. 

At  various  periods  in  our  history  laws  relative  to  naturalization  have 
been  passed,  exacting,  in  some  instances,  but  two  years  of  residence  in 
the  country.  Circumstances  might  then  have  justified  so  short  a  pro 
bation,  but,  at  the  present  time,  not  merely  has  the  clas?  of  emigrants 

*  Webster. 


LJ52  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

changed,  but  the  country  itself  has  been  radically  modified  :  it  has,  ii 
fact,  assumed  a  nationality  that  it  did  not  formerly  possess.  Dem 
agogues  enunciate  a  monstrous  proposition  in  asserting  this  republic 
to  be  one  of  composite  races.  It  is  not.  The  Republic  of  the  Uiiitet 
States  is  Anglo-Saxon  in  all  its  bearings :  other  peoples  may  arrive 
but  they  must  be  gradually  absorbed,  and,  in  process  of  time,  becoim 
amalgamated  with,  and  lost  among,  the  predominant  race.  Etlmolog} 
and  history  both  assert  this  fact,  and  the  senseless  opponents  of  it  an 
merely  perpetuating  the  evils  of  caste,  in  pandering  to  the  prejudice; 
of  various  nationalities.  It  is  the  province  and  duty  of  the  patriot  t<  • 
discountenance  such  endeavors. 

The  objection  is  frequently  advanced  that  in  thus  debarring  i, 
whole  class,  men  are  kept  out,  whose  aim  in  adopting  American  citi 
zenship  is  to  enjoy  a  political  freedom,  which  experience  tells  then 
can  only  be  found  here.     But  it  would  be  scarcely  possible  to  enu 
merate  all  these  exceptional  instances ;  suffice  it  to  say,  the  legislature 
might  be  permitted  to  admit  such  cases  to  citizenship,  especially 
where  services  have  been  rendered  to  the  country,  or  additions  to  it:- 
glory.     This  is  fully  consonant  with  the  democratic  principle ;  but,  iu 
any  case,  it  is  much  better  for  the  country  to  lose  the  advantage  of 
such  instances,  than  to  receive  with  them  the  immense  masses  who  are 
fast  making  universal  suffrage  a  mockery  and  delusion. 

The  hordes  of  emigrants  who  yearly  crowd  our  shores,  seek  us,  not 
to  obtain  a  voice  in  government,  but  a  certainty  of  life,  food,  and  per 
sonal  freedom,  which  they  never  before  enjoyed.  If,  like  the  adder 
warmed  into  life  by  the  peasant,  they  get  prosperous,  and  turn  upon 
their  benefactor ;  or,  listening  to  the  voice  of  vile  demagogues  and 
designing  politicians,  they  raise  tumult  and  civil  discord  in  the  land, 
then  surely  native-born  citizens  have  a  natural  and  a  constitutional 
right  to  curb  such  disorder,  and  to  legislate  so  as,  in  future,  to  pre 
vent  any  doubt  as  to  whether  an  American  have  a  nationality  or  not. 

In  America,  no  man  becomes  a  citizen  through  the  influence  of 
either  money  or  titles.  It  was  a  wise  act  of  our  forefathers,  when 
they  abolished  titles,  except  such  only  as  might  be  the  expression  ot 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES   THE   RIGHT   TO   VOTE?  253 

simple  respect ;  and  it  has  conduced  more  effectually  to  the  complete 
political  equality  of  all  classes  of  citizens  than  many  measures  about 
which  vastly  more  has  been  said.  It  taught  the  people  the  truth, 
that  there  was  in  America  nothing  greater  than  citizenship  itself;  and 
weaned  them  rapidly  from  the  foolish  inclination,  that  is  no  part  of  a 
high  and  self-reliant  manhood,  to  bestow  honor  upon  the  emptiest  of 
human  pretensions. 

Citizenship,  if  it  involves  the  serious  responsibilities  that  exist  along 
with  its  possession,  presumes — or,  at  least,  should '  presume — certain 
fixed  qualifications.  If  the  elector  be  ignorant  of  those  responsibili 
ties,  assuredly  he  cannot  be  supposed  to  assume  them;  and  if  he  fails 
to  assume  them,  it  is  proper  that  he  be  refused  the  use  of  the  elec 
toral  franchise  until  such  time  as  his  ignorance  has  yielded  to  a  more 
profound  understanding  of  his  obligations.  Nothing  can  be  plainer 
than  this.  And  yet  there  are  Americans,  who  should  know  better 
what  is  the  priceless  worth  of  our  institutions,  who  seek  to  throw 
open  every  means  of  access  to  a  privilege  that  should  be  guarded 
with  so  watchful  a  care,  and  affect  indifference  to  qualifications  of 
such  momentous  importance, — men  seemingly  careless  of  the  true 
character  of  the  liberty  which  we  profess,  and  ignorant  of  the  certain 
consequences  of  licentiousness  and  misrule  that  are  to  follow  close 
upon  any  laxity  of  electoral  obligations.  Such  men  need  to  study 
more  thoughtfully  the  meaning  of  our  government,  and  the  true 
spirit  and  character  of  its  institutions. 

Any  native-born  citizen,  on  attaining  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
and  having  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  fidel 
ity  to  the  laws,  is  admitted  to  all  the  privileges  of  the  electoral  fran 
chise.  He  has  the  right  to  vote  on  all  questions  affecting  the  common 
interest,  and  by  the  deposit  of  his  ballot  throws  his  individual  influ 
ence  into  the  scale  of  political  affairs.  He  is  licensed  to  assist  in  the 
regulation  of  the  highest  and  the  lowest  interests  that  pertain  to  the 
welfare  of  the  nation.  He  may  make  the  power  of  his  influence  felt 
throughout  all  the  affairs  of  state.  Law  and  order  are  intrusted  to 
his  hands  for  preservation.  The  general  intelligence  will  either 

12 


254:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

advance  or  retrograde,  according  to  the  power  of  his  vote  and  exam 
ple.  The  public  peace  and  prosperity  depend  upon  the  manner  in 
which  his  privilege  as  an  elector  is  exercised.  The  national  character 
is  elevated  or  depressed,  as  his  own  character  is  made  to  impress  itself 
upon  its  existence. 

Gaining  so  exalted  a  right  on  such  easy  terms,  unless  some  steps 
be  taken  to  secure  the  elector's  intelligent  appreciation  of  his  privi 
leges  and  responsibilities,  his  individual  gain  must,  of  necessity  be  the 
country's  loss.  An  ignorant  and  degraded  citizen  can  be  only  a  bad 
citizen  ;  and  a  bad  citizen,  assuredly,  is  worse  than  none.  We  had 
better  all  remain  peaceful  subjects,  than  become  irresponsible  and 
licentious  citizens. 

What,  then,  should  those  qualifications  be  for  possessing  and  enjoy 
ing  the  electoral  privilege  ?  This  is  the  important  question  that  so 
immediately  concerns  all  the  free  citizens  of  America.  It  presents 
itself  to  us  at  this  day,  demanding  a  thoughtful  but  speedy  answer. 
That  there  should  be  certain  fundamental  qualifications,  of  a  general 
and  disciplinary  nature,  attached  to  the  privilege  of  voting,  we  do  not 
see  how  any  intelligent  American  can  doubt.  The  more  extended  the 
responsibilities,  the  greater  should  be  the  precautions  to  make  them 
appreciated  and  understood.  The  more  valuable  the  character  of  the 
possession,  the  more  positive  the  need  of  its  being  impressed  on  the 
mind  of  every  one  who  is  admitted  to  it  as  a  participator. 

In  the  first  place,  it  seems  necessary  to  insist  on  some  degree  of 
familiarity  with  the  principles  and  working  of  our  constitutional  form 
of  government.  The  native-born  citizen  acquires  this  in  the  course 
of  his  education  from  his  youth  up.  Even  if  not  much  given  to 
reflection,  and  to  the  habit  of  tracing  results  back  to  their  original 
causes,  he  nevertheless  is  placed  and  kept  within  the  circle  of  those 
ever-recurring  events  which  mark  the  movements  of  our  political  sys 
tem  ;  and  even  imperceptibly,  and  unconsciously  to  himself,  he  is 
taught  by  them  lessons  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  better  un 
derstanding  of  the  institutions  that  surround  him.  The  very  atmo 
sphere  that  he  breathes  is  conducive  to  his  progress  in  the  right 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES   THE    RIGHT   TO    VOTE?  255 

direction.  All  his  associations  are  pregnant  with  the  instruction  of 
which  he  has  so  much  need. 

The  alien  knows  nothing  of  these  things.  What  acquaintance  he 
obtains  with  the  principles  of  constitutional  freedom,  must  be  had 
only  through  the  instrumentality  of  his  own  studious  and  persistent 
efforts.  Nothing  comes  to  him  by  mere  force  of  education,  or 
through  the  facile  medium  of  early  associations.  In  a  strange  land, 
he  is  himself  an  utter  stranger.  He  may  understand  that  here  his 
physical  condition  is  susceptible  of  the  largest  possible  improvement, 
and  yet  he  may  remain  in  the  grossest  ignorance  of  the  vital  truths 
and  principles  by  whose  agency  alone  that  improvement  is  so  firmly 
secured.  Such  strange  things  present  themselves  to  our  observation 
daily. 

Unless  the  elector  has  a  clear  apprehension  as  well  of  the  character 
as  of  the  workings  of  the  institutions  under  which  he  lives,  it  can 
hardly  be  supposed  of  him  that  he  is  truly  capable  of  exercising  the 
electoral  franchise.  The  possession  of  that  privilege  should  of  neces 
sity  presuppose  a  certain  degree  of  intelligent  capacity  both  to  employ 
and  enjoy  it.  Unless  that  capacity  is  present,  there  remains  so  much 
more  of  ignorance  to  be  overcome  by  the  superior  intelligence  of  the 
rest,  and  they  are  losers  to  the  extent  of  that  ignorance  over  the  popu 
lar  mind. 

In  the  second  place,  no  man  should  be  an  elector,  possessing  its 
various  powers  and  privileges,  who  has  not  already  asserted  and 
proven  his  decided  preference  for  free  institutions  over  all  others,  and 
is  not  willing  to  live  perpetually  under  the  active  operation  of  the 
principles  in  which  they  are  rooted.  It  may  be  replied,  we  admit, 
that  the  elector's  oath,  taken  at  the  time  of  becoming  a  participator 
in  the  privilege  of  the  electoral  franchise,  is  prima  facie  evidence  of 
such  a  preference  and  willingness ;  yet,  as  the  details  of  our  political 
affairs  ha've  from  time  to  time  exhibited  themselves  on  the  surface,  it 
is  by  no  means  so  well  established,  that  behind  that  solemn  assevera 
tion  there  luiks  NO  DANGEROUS  RESERVATION.  We  have  had  abundant 
proof  in  our  own  day,  that  the  oath  of  the  freeman  is  too  often  for- 


256  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

gotten, — vitiated  by  the  force  of  secret  compacts, — nay,  scouted, 
denied,  and  derided,  by  men  to  whom  in  safety  its  administration 
should  have  been  refused.  We  have  had  not  a  few  most  melancholy 
reminders  of  the  insecurity  that  attends  the  too  free  and  unguarded 
gift  of  its  power,  to  those  who  had  no  proper  estimate  of  its  use  or 
value.  These  warnings  appeal  directly  to  the  cause  of  liberty  and  a 
free  government,  and  have  no  connection  with  considerations  of  mere 
personal  safety  or  personal  prejudice. 

It  seems  to  be  the  most  natural  and  reasonable  of  all  demands 
conceivable,  that  he  who  is  about  to  have  a  part  in  the  operations  of 
government,  should  in  his  heart  be  firmly  attached  to  that  govern 
ment.  Less  than  this  condition,  is  an  abrogation  of  all  conditions. 
If  a  man  be  ready  to  bind  himself,  it  is  presumable  that  his  attach 
ment  is  beyond  question  for  the  object  with  which  he  desires  to  make 
the  engagement.  And  to  attach  one's  self  to  a  cause,  instead  of  a 
mere  interest, — a  cause  the  most  holy  and  lofty  of  all  that  absorb 
the  thoughts  or  exercise  the  emotions  of  the  human  race,  because  it  is 
co-ordinate  and  co-equal  with  the  great  truths  of  Christianity  itself, — 
is  properly  indicative  of  enthusiasm.  It  is  an  open  confession  that 
the  generous  impulses  outrun  the  slower  movements  of  calculative 
reflection,  and  that  the  man  has  grown  energetic  in  behalf  of  that 
cause,  rather  through  the  quickening  warmth  of  his  irresistible  con 
victions,  than  through  the  calmer  and  steadier  influence  of  reasonings 
which  he  cannot  put  aside. 

In  the  next  place,  all  voters  should  possess  at  least  a  fair  share  of 
general  intelligence — enough,  certainly,  to  enable  them  to  distinguish 
the  difference  between  the  American  and  other  forms  of  government, 
and  to  know  the  uses  and  meaning  of  law,  the  general  rights  of  indi 
viduals,  the  sacredness  of  life  and  property,  and  the  ordinary  object 
and  scope  of  free  institutions.  Such  men  are  not  naturally  to  be 
looked  for  among  the  masses  of  those  who  are  not  yet  able  to  read 
and  write,  nor  do  they  abound  in  quarters  where  the  controlling  in 
fluences  are  anti-American,  Jesuitical,  and  dangerous  to  liberty.  The 
very  object  of  freedom,  we  know,  is  to  elevate  the  character  of  the 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES  THE   RIGHT   TO   VOTE*  257 

masses ;  yet  the  necessity  is  absolute  that  there  should  be  some  de 
gree  of  elevation  with  which  to  begin  the  experiment. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  intelligence  and  ignorance  alike  are  to  be  in 
corporated  into  the  system  of  our  institutions,  it  requires  no  prophet's 
eye  to  see  that  those  institutions  must,  in  a  fearfully  brief  space  of 
time,  become  changed  in  their  character.  They  are  capable  of  ele 
vating  men  from  the  degradations  of  ignorance,  if  allowed  the  influ 
ence  that  was  inherent  in  them  at  their  establishment ;  but,  in  an 
altered  condition,  they  may  become  the  most  powerful  engines  of 
licentiousness  and  misrule,  by  which  ignorant  and  vicious  men  permit 
themselves  to  be  moved. 

A  certain  standard  of  general  intelligence  ought  to  be  demanded  by 
the  popular  voice  for  those  who  aspire  to  the  privileges  and  power  of 
electorship.  The  danger  of  laxity  here  is  plain  to  the  most  superficial 
observer.  It  is  only  tearing  away  the  ordinary  safeguards  of  freedom, 
opening  a  road  for  the  aggressions  of  depravity,  paying  premiums  for 
the  perpetual  presence  of  anxiety  and  fear,  and  suffering  the  general 
interests  and  welfare  to  relapse  into  the  unfathomable  depths  of  deg 
radation.  There  can  be  no  laxity,  with  safety,  in  a  state  of  actual 
freedom.  Vigilance  is  the  corner-stone  of  the  whole  fabric. 

And,  lastly,  the  participator  in  a  free  government,  like  that  of  Amer 
ica,  ought  to  have  some  definite  understanding  of  the  true  aims,  and 
the  extended  influence  of  the  system  under  which  he  lives.  It  is  in 
cumbent  on  him,  as  a  valuable  citizen,  that  he  know,  not  simply  the 
theory  of  that  system,  but  something,  also,  of  its  lofty  purposes,  its 
far-reaching  influences,  and  its  marvellous  power  in  the  great  work 
of  regenerating  and  exalting  the  human  race.  If,  in  such  a  knowl 
edge  as  this  he  has  no  deficiency,  he  is  secretly  conscious  that  he  has 
risen  by  progressive  steps,  from  being  a  mere  observer  of  disconnected 
facts,  to  the  higher  conditions  of  a  true  philosopher. 

A  familiar  understanding  of  these  purposes  is  what  every  American 
should  possess.  He  ought  to  know  that  a  free  government  exists  for 
some  other  end  than  simply  what  is  to  be  found  centering  in  itself; 
that  its  proper  aims  can  never  be  selfish,  and  never  limit  themselves 


258  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

to  the  elevation  of  a  few  over  the  many ;  that  it  iias  for  its  scope  the 
welfare  of  every  citizen,  however  degraded  and  however  humble,  with 
in  its  territorial  boundaries ;  that  its  object  is  purely  the  elevation  of 
the  masses,  who,  in  turn,  must  reflect  their  character  and  its  varied 
influences  upon  its  name  and  institutions ;  that  the  perpetuation  of 
truth,  and  not  of  falsehood,  is  the  natural  result  of  its  manifold  op 
erations;  and  that  its  works  will  not  cease  from  their  living  and 
spreading  influence,  till  that  influence  shall  have  made  the  peaceful 
circuit  of  the  world. 

These  are  grand  objects  to  attain,  and  must  excite  both  the  admira 
tion  and  enthusiasm  of  all  who  possess  the  capacity  to  comprehend 
them.  And  if  they  belong,  of  such  a  plain  necessity,  to  the  govern 
ment  that  has  true  freedom  for  its  permanent  foundation,  what  a 
weighty  responsibility  attaches  to  every  individual  who  is  permitted 
a  share  in  the  transactions  of  that  government !  How  earnest  ought 
all  to  appear  in  hastening  forward  purposes  which  are  fraught  with 
such  beatific  consequences  to  the  whole  human  race  !  What  a  neces 
sity  rests  on  all  citizens  alike,  to  see  that  these  grand  aims  are  not 
perverted  by  either  the  ignorance  or  wilfulness  of  any,  who  seek  to 
be  admitted  to  the  same  free  privileges  with  themselves! 

That  the  true  worth  of  the  electoral  franchise  too  often  suffers  from 
degrading  uses,  it  is  impossible  to  deny.  Proof  of  it  is  offered  us  on 
every  side.  It  is  bestowed  where  it  should  have  been  withheld  :  it 
courts  the  acceptance  of  the  incompetent,  instead  of  demanding  that 
they  first  qualify  themselves  for  being  invested  with  its  inestimable 
gifts:  it  is  losing  its  character  for  dignity,  by  being  literally  thrust 
upon  men  in  no  wise  fitted  for  the  performance  of  any  of  its  func 
tions. 

The  high  characteristics  of  citizenship  must  manifestly  relax  their 
claims  to  general  respect,  when  ignorant  foreign  immigrants  are 
made  voters  before  they  can  so  much  as  understand  their  relations  to 
the  laws  or  to  the  people  at  large.  AVe  are  undeniably  going  back 
wards,  when  we  admit  men  to  be  electors,  who  cannot  distinguish  be 
tween  a  blind  and  sullen  obedience  to  statutes,  and  an  active  and 


WHAT   CONSTITUTES   THE    RIGHT   TO    VOTE*  259 

intelligent  co-operation  with  the  principles  on  which  proper  restrictive 
enactments  are  founded.  -It  is  a  dangerous  policy  to  make  voters  of 
men  who  think  that  freedom  from  European  servility  should  be 
marked  by  an  irresponsible  delirium  of  license  here.  It  degrades  the 
general  standard  to  which  the  condition  of  electorship  should  aspire 
to  hold  itself  fixed.  Such  men  grow  suddenly  exhilarated  in  the  free 
atmosphere  into  which  they  have  come,  and  contract  exaggerated 
ideas  of  liberty,  that  are  never  borne  out  by  the  reality  of  their  sub 
sequent  experience.  Demagogues  flatter  these  naturalized  voters, 
and  they  are  delighted ; — if,  afterwards,  honest  men  should  tell  them 
the  truth,  they  could  neither  endure  them,  nor  the  institutions  in  whose 
name  they  profess  to  speak. 

In  itself  considered,  and  setting  aside  these  multiplied  abuses  to 
which  so  priceless  a  gift  as  the  electoral  franchise  is  subjected,  Amer 
ican  Citizenship  is  invested  with  a  dignity  that  transcends  in  intrinsic 
importance,  any  and  all  the  titles  that  foreign  courts  have  it  in  their 
power  to  bestow ;  there  is,  in  reality,  no  condition  that  may  success 
fully  claim  to  be  its  equal. 

From  the  citizen,  in  his  individual  character,  emanate  influences 
that  reach  alike  the  government  and  the  world.  By  his  power,  is 
circumscribed  the  welfare  of  associated  masses  and  multitudes.  He 
feels  the  glory  and  the  shame  of  his  country,  for  that  country  has  the 
sources  of  its  existence  in  him ;  he  stands  the  immediate  representative 
of  the  government  acd  the  citizen,  and  happily  illustrates  the  nicely 
adjusted  relationship  of  each  to  the  other. 

By  the  very  name  Citizen  is  fairly  implied  both  honor  and  hon 
esty,  purity  and  morality.  He  should  fear  only  what  is  wronsf,  and 
aspire  to  nothing  but  what  is  right.  He  must  be  impressed  with  the 
number  and  magnitude  of  his  responsibilities,  feeling  the  weight  of 
the  trusts  he  has  received,  both  from  his  country  and  from  God.  He 
cannot  fail  to  see  that  his  own  free  system  of  government,  that  de 
grades  none,  but  seeks  to  exalt  all  alike,  is  the  light  and  illumination 
of  the  world ;  that  it  most  truly  represents  the  cause  of  freedom  and 
equal  rights ;  that  it  abnegates  selfishness,  and  has  within  the  reach 


260  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

of  its  influence  the  welfare  of  the  entire  human  race.  He  must  be 
deeply  impressed  with  the  greatness  of  his  mission,  knowing  it  to  be  the 
mission  of  the  government  in  which  he  is  an  active  participant.  His 
reflections  can  be  in  no  manner  allied  to  levity,  for  they  must  tell  him 
perpetually  of  a  work,  whose  mighty  results  are  to  be  carried  steadily 
forward  to  the  end  of  coming  time. 


FALLACY  OF  SUPPOSING  THAT  AMERICAN  INSTITU 
TIONS  NEED  NO  SAFEGUARDS. 

''Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty." 

IT  appears  to  be  an  almost  universal  truth,  that  those  -who  are  in 
possession  of  the  full  desire  of  their  hearts,  betray  extreme  careless 
ness  in  securing  for  that  possession  an  adequate  protection.  A  severe 
experience  seems  needed  to  discipline  men  into  habits  of  prudence, 
self-control,  and  precautionary  foresight.  Any  advantage,  if  not  ac 
quired  by  personal  sacrifice,  generally  fails  to  carry  with  it  those  im 
pressive  lessons  of  discreetness  which  are  the  surest  securities  against 
either  its  invasion  or  decay. 

Americans  of  the  present  generation  have  been  peculiarly  liberal  in 
relation  to  their  political  privileges.  Holding  them  in  a  measure 
cheap,  because  so  easily  attained,  they  have  hitherto  failed  to  see  the 
need  of  dispensing  them  to  others  with  a  prudent  hand,  or  of  hedging 
them  about  with  such  restrictions  as  would  place  them  out  of  reach 
of  questionable  influences.  Liberty  has  a  tendency  to  make  men's 
heart's  large  and  generous,  and  to  give  the  utmost  latitude  to  thought. 
With  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  manifold  blessings  of  freedom  in 
grained  in  their  very  natures,  it  is  hardly  possible  for  them  to  desire 
less  ample  endowments  for  those  whom  they  find  deprived  of  them 
altogether. 

The  actual  aim  of  our  free  institutions  is  universal  brotherhood. 
Whether  acknowledged  or  not  as  the  purpose  of  our  political  organi 
zation,  this,  nevertheless,  is  the  vital  spirit  that  imparts  all  power  and 
energy.  And  yet  it  is  not  to  be  argued  as  a  consequent  of  this 

12* 


262  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

truth,  that  so  grand  an  attainment  will  be  readied  any  the  sooner,  or 
that  its  blessings  will  be  secured  in  any  greater  degree,  by  laxity  in 
the  Ciue  of  these  institutions,  and  a  mistaken  generosity  in  extending 
the  power  of  directing  their  operation.  By  indifference  of  this  sort, 
their  character  must  suffer  degradation;  and  when  that  result  is 
reached,  the  true  end  of  their  existence  is  perverted,  if  not  entirely 
destroyed.  Free  gifts  are  assuredly  evidences  of  'large  possessions  ; 
and  multiplied  acts  of  generosity  are  proofs  of  deep  sympathy  with 
those  who  arc  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  destitute.  But  there  are 
always  limits  to  such  deeds,  beyond  which  they  cease  to  be  bene 
ficial,  and  become  means  of  injury  or  mischief. 

If  absolutism  feels  the  necessity  of  protecting  itself  against  the 
inroads  of  men  who  deny  the  lawfulness  of  its  claims,  how  much 
more  sensibly  must  that  necessity  be  felt  by  the  friends  and  supporters 
of  constitutional  freedom.  The  former  fears  conspiracies,  machina 
tions,  and  the  outbursts  of  rebellion.  The  latter  have  to  guard  con 
tinually  against  indifference  to  privileges, — an  indifference  which 
soon  is  followed  by  licentiousness  and  riot, — eventually  leading  to  a 
tyranny  far  more  fearful  than  that  of  any  one-man  power.  Libeity 
is  apt  to  be  careless,  from  its  very  inclination  to  generosity.  Unspar 
ing  in  favors  to  all,  it  dreams  not  of  ingratitude  from  its  recipients. 
Tiie  law  seems  to  be  entirely  in  its  own  favor,  removing  all  thoso 
sources  of  anxiety  in  which  absolutism  is  so  prolific;  and  yet  other 
causes  of  fear  are  known  to  spring  up  plentifully  under  a  certain 
complication  of  circumstances,  which  nothing  but  the  utmost  pru 
dence  and  firmness  can  hope  to  remove. 

There  is  nothing  that  Americans  should  guard  wii.li  so  watchful  an 
eye  as  their  country's  liberty.  They  cannot  be  too  jealous  in  its  erne. 
They  cannot  hope  to  enjoy  freedom  and  slothful  ness  together.  Lib 
erty  has  its  own  unchangeable  price,  which  is  vigilance  unceasing. 
It  is  good  to  dilate  on  the  blessings  of  freedom,  but  the  reflections 
are  idle  and  the  words  are  empty  harangues,  when  freedom  has  no 
sentinels  on  its  farthest  outposts,  and  careless  defenders  in  its  citadel. 
If  they  who  hold  priceless  possessions  are  indifferent  to  their  preser- 


NECESSITY   OF   INSTITUTIONAL   SAFEGUARDS.          263 

ration,  where  shall  men  be  found  to  volunteer  protection  for  that  upon 
which  they  set,  as  yet,  no  value  ?  If  the  free  are  not  watchful,  how 
can  we  hope  to  find  a  guardian  for  liberty  among  the  oppressed  ? 

None  ought  to  be  so  capable  of  understanding  what  freedom  is 
worth,  as  those  to  whom  its  riches  have  fallen  by  inheritance.  A 
proper  estimate  of  its  value  is  not  to  be  expected  from  others.  To 
them  it  is  still  an  unreal  speculation — a  dim  and  far-off  vision.  They 
have  heard,  perhaps,  of  its  reality,  and  come  to  settle  their  calm  con 
victions  upon  its  truth.  Still,  it  is  practically  unknown  to  them,  and 
from  it  they  have  never  been  able  to  derive  any  personal  advantage. 
But  Americans  have  no  excuse  to  plead  for  their  ignorance.  Under 
the  protection  of  free  and  constitutional  laws  they  are  secured  in  the 
possession  of  both  life  and  liberty.  Themselves  the  original  power 
in  the  State,  they  impart  character  and  direction  to  all  the  operations 
of  government.  Holding  certain  inalienable  rights,  they  are  free  to 
attain  happiness  after  their  own  desires.  All  pursuits,  of  a  proper 
character,  lie  wide  open  to  their  ambition  in  every  direction  ;  and 
they  may  boast  that  theirs  is  the  noblest  country  and  the  freest 
nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

There  are,  therefore,  no  reasons  why  such  large  privileges  should 
ever  suffer  from  diminution.  If  they  unfortunately  do,  the  fault  lies 
at  the  door  of  those  who  should  have  been  their  most  ardent  cham 
pions.  They  must  rehearse  their  misfortunes  to  none  but  their  own 
ears,  and  brood  in  silence  over  the  loss  that  might  have  been  turned 
to  their  immeasurable  gain. 

Facts  are  imposing  authorities  in  the  disposition  of  theories  and 
suppositions.  Nothing  is  better  calculated  to  open  the  efes  of  the 
blind,  or  to  unstop  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  than  these  most  stubborn  and 
irresistible  things.  Upon  them,  all  reasoning  is  based  ;  and  from 
them  logical  conclusions  are  unerringly  deduced.  From  them  alone 
we  are  able  to  understand  the  real  position,  both  of  our  free  institutions 
and  the  dangers  by  which  these  are  surrounded.  They  will  tell  us  the 
plainest  truths  of  our  national  welfare,  and  enable  us,  better  than  all 
else,  to  comprehend  the  chart  by  which  our  national  course  is  guided. 


264:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

In  dealing  with  this  subject,  \ve  do  not  propose  to  enter  very 
deeply  into  statistics,  yet  it  may  be  well  to  illustrate  the  points  to 
which  we  wish  to  call  general  attention.  We  desire  to  establish 
three  distinct  statements ;  and  from  their  tenor  may  be  inferred  the 
particular  dangers  to  which  our  free  institutions  are  at  this  day  most 
threateningly  exposed : 

I.  The  foreign  voters,  who  are  proved  to  be  ignorant  and  in  every 
way  incompetent,  are  admitted  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  electoral 
franchise. 

We,  who  never  knew  what  a  blind  and  ^passive  obedience  to  law 
is,  can  form  no  adequate  idea  of  the  recklessness  and  delirium  which 
seize  hold  of  so  many  foreign  immigrants  the  moment  they  put  foot 
upon  our  shores.  We  admit  that  some  of  them  are  men  of  intel 
lectual  culture,  while  it  will  not  be  denied  that  too  many  are  persons 
of  the  most  degraded  character,  and  destitute  even  of  the  most  meager 
attainments.  The  ignorance,  however,  from  which  Americans  experi 
ence  the  greatest  cause  for  distrust,  is  that  which  relates  to  the  nature 
and  spirit  of  republican  institutions.  These  they  do  not  seem  either 
able  or  inclined  to  comprehend.  They  scout  all  ideas  of  obedience, 
because  they  claim  that  here  they  are  free.  Liberty  and  lawlessness 
are  with  them  one  and  the  same  thing.  'Hitherto,  they  have  never 
borne  any  intelligent  relation  to  the  existence  or  ^execution  of  law, 
but  have  occupied  the  places  of  unreflecting  persons,  accustomed,  in 
passive  silence,  to  bear  the  burdens  with  which  tlaey  were  weighed 
down.  Coming  to  a  country  like  America,  and  hearing  the  most 
exaggerated  and  extravagant  stories  of  its  ample  freedom  for  all  men, 
without  a  thought  of  their  responsibility  to  the  nation  sustaining  the 
fabric  of  this  glorious  freedom,  they  conclude  that  here  the  field  of 
license  lies  open,  and  that  any  sort  of  restraint  is  powerless  and  ille 
gal  against  unbounded  indulgence. 

Heretofore,  all  their  feelings  have  been  marshalled  against  govern 
ment  ;  for  it  was  established  upon  their  oppression,  and  never  exercised 
its  functions  for  their  interests  or  welfare.  They  have  lost  that  high 
and  self-reliant  sense  of  manhood,  under  its  operation,  which  gives  to 


NECESSITY  OF  INSTITUTIONAL   SAFEGUARDS.          265 

men  the  clearest  ideas  of  true  freedom,  and  enables  them  to  under 
stand  their  relation  to  freedom.  The  result  naturally  follows,  that 
these  same  feelings  of  antagonism  to  government  and  law  are  brought 
with  them  to  the  land  which  they  have  chosen,  as  their  future  home. 
They  breathe  the  same  spirit  of  hostility  as  before,  to  whatever  has  a 
tendency  to  impose  upon  their  careless  action  a  healthy  restraint. 
Not  comprehending  the  meaning  of  self-government,  they  know 
nothing  of  the  spirit  of  conservatism  by  which  our  free  system  is 
upheld,  and  are  ready  to  enter  with  recklessness  upon  any  changes 
Svhich  demagogues  hold  out  as  beneficial. 

Lacking  religious  sentiment  of  any  description,  they  become  the 
easiest  dupes,  as  they  are  the  most  dangerous  fanatics.  They  are  ever 
ready  for  change,  nay,  for  revolution,  rather  than  continue  in  peaceful 
quiet,  obedient  to  law,  and  evenly  pursuing  their  own  highest  inter 
ests.  As  are  their  sympathies  in  the  lands  of  their  birth,  so  are  they 
here :  as  are  their  hatreds  there,  so  do  they  betray  themselves  here. 
All  ideas  of  law  are  confounded  with  mere  physical  force,  and  they 
have  no  definite  conception  whatever  of  the  true  aim  of  legal  enact 
ments. 

Such  are  the  people  flocking  to  our  shores  by  tens  of  thousands, 
and  admitted,  even  welcomed,  to  the  privileges  of  citizenship.  The. 
direct  tendency  of  such  an  addition  to  our  roll  of  voters,  is  the  unmis 
takable  degradation  of  the  electoral  franchise.  Such  gross  ignorance 
could  produce  no  other  result.  We  have  a  large  proportion  of  .such 
voters  in  the  country,  answerable  for  the  operation  of  our  political  in 
stitutions,  and  directly  concerned  in  the  character  of  their  influence, 
both  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  1832,  at  the  time  of  the  Presidential  election,  there  were  sup 
posed  to  be  fifteen  thousand  foreign  voters  in  America ;  in  1840,  they 
were  computed  at  fifty-four  thousand,  comprising  one  forty- sixth  of 
the  whole  number  of  electors;  while  in  1852,  the  foreign  vote  was 
known  with  accuracy  to  be  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  thousand, 
or  had  risen  to  one-seventeenth  of  the  electoral  body.  In  other  words, 
the  foreign  vote  had  nearly  multiplied  itself  by  twelve,  since  1840, 


266  A   VOICE   TO    AMERICA. 

while  the  aggregate  vote  of  the  country  has  not  multiplied  itself  by 
three!     The  moral  lies  in  the  figures. 

& 

During  the  past  five  years,  it  is  calculated  there  has  been  a  steady 
immigration  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  thousand  persons  a  year,  or 
about  one  thousand  per  day  !  Out  of  each  thousand,  it  is  safe  to  con 
sider  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  be  voters.  The  great  mass  of 
these  men  is  composed  of  all  the  ignorance,  poverty,  lawlessness,  and 
general  degradation,  that  could  be  induced  to  emigrate  to  America. 
They  come  to  the  ballot-boxes  side  by  side  with  those  who  have  been 
bred  from  their  youth  to  a  perfect  familiarity  with  and  respect  for  free 
institutions,  and  are  too  often  found  ready  to  become  the  servile  tools 
of  demagogues,  even  more  reckless  and  unprincipled  than  themselves. 
These  are  the  men  we  permit  to  help  fashion  our  laws,  give  tone 
to  general  society,  infuse  energy  into  the  spirit  of  our  political  organ 
izations,  and  protect  us  and  all  our  dearest  interests  from  destruction 
or  decay.  With  no  knowledge  of  our  Constitution,  they  never  inter 
est  themselves  to  understand  its  meaning.  They  do  not  comprehend 
what  is  the  scope  of  law,  nor  are  they  conscious  of  the  existence  of 
any  check  or  responsibility  that  may  hold  them  to  its  observance. 

It  is  time  this  threatening  danger  be  averted.  The  evil  increases 
by  continuance,  and  daily  becomes  more  and  more  difficult  of  rem 
edy.  Unless  efficient  and  timely  safeguards  are  interposed  by  the 
vigilant  watchmen  of  freedom,  it  will  have  acquired  an  imposing  mag 
nitude,  capable  of  overawing  the  most  energetic  efforts  for  its  subju 
gation. 

II.  Our  institutions  are  alarmingly  menaced,  by  the  aggressions  of 
the  Romish  priesthood. 

We  are  well  aware  that  much  has  been  said  on  this  subject ;  but  will) 
the  practices  and  professions  of  that  priesthood  before  our  eyes,  we  in 
sist  that  it  is  impossible  to  warn  the  people  of  America  too  frequently 
against  the  arts  by  which  their  liberties  arc  sought  to  be  subverted. 
It  is  not  for  Americans  to  raise  the  rallying  cry  of  persecution.  Every 
religious  body  should  be  left  free  to  the  enjoyment  of  its  own  worship, 
and  the  publication  of  its  own  creeds.  Uncharitableness  belongs  not 


NECESSITY   OF   INSTITUTIONAL   SAFEGUARDS.          267 

to  the  spirit  of  our  system.  Interference  with  the  convictions  of  con 
science,  is  sternly  forbidden  by  the  whole  history  and  tenor  of  our 
political  customs. 

But  when  religion  forgets  the  holy  cause  of  its  mission,  and,  in  the 
name  of  designing  men,  is  inoculated  with  selfishness  and  ambition, 
and  a  spirit  of  arbitrariness  in  direct  conflict  with  freedom,  both  of 
conduct  and  conscience — when  it  lays  off  the  nnsoiled  robes  of  peace 
in  which  it  has  been  clad,  and  girds  on  the  sword  in  order  to  wage 
worldly  conflicts — it  seems  then  as  if,  with  its  own  pure  character,  it 
had  divested  itself  of  its  former  claims  to  our  reverence,  and  entered 
the  field  wkh  all  the  greedy  desires,  deceits,  artifices,  and  hot  passions, 
that  disfigure  the  character  of  man. 

If  the  devotees  of  the  religk>n  of  Christ  once  give  over  the  single 
ness  of  their  calling  for  the  sake  of  compassing  ends  which  are  purely 
ambitious  and  worldly,  they  deserve  to  be  met  with  the  prompt  re 
buke  that  such  conduct  so  richly  merits.  No  reproofs  can  be  too 
severe  for  their  hypocritical  practices.  No  opposition  can  be  too  un 
bending  for  their  attempted  usurpations.  They  are  to  be  checked  at 
the  outset  in  -a  career  that  promises  nothing  but  danger  to  the  free 
government  that  affords  them  its  indulgent  protection. 

That  there  are  truly  and  devotedly  pious  members  of  the  Romish 
priesthood  in  America,  we  shall  not  take  it  upon  ourselves  to  deny ; 
still  their  zeal  burns  only  for  the  Church,  whose  faithful  servants  they 
are,  while  the  tenets  and  practices  of  that  Church  are  undeviatingly 
hostile  to  freedom.  These  facts  are  well  supported.  The  professions 
of  the  temporal  head  of  that  Church  are  openly  at  war  with  free  in 
stitutions.  His  words  are  swift  witnesses  of  his  hostility  to  any  polit 
ical  system  that  secures  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  worshipper.  He 
insists  that  the  Church,  and  the  Romish  Church  alone,  is  the  source 
of  all  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  authority,  and  that  to  its  tyranni 
cal  behests  and  decrees  the  State  should  bow  in  silent  submission.  In 
America,  the  people  form  the  State ;  and  hence  the  people  must  be 
brought  beneath  a  yoke  that  takes  away  every  thing  like  individual 
freedom,  and  offers  in  return  nothing  but  the  most  degrading' servility. 


268  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

On  such  conditions,  no  free  State  could  ever  hope  to  stand.  Its 
history  would  pass  out  of  the  light,  into  a  darkness  that  "would  en 
shroud  it  from  the  eyes  of  the  world,  forever.  The  rock  on  which  it 
stranded  would  always  be  marked,  but,  in  the  wide  waste  of  the 
seas',  no  fragments  of  the  noble  structure  would  afterwards  be  found. 
It  would  be  ingulfed  in  a  vast  whirlpool,  that  never  gives  back  to 
the  eye  any  tokens  of  the  ruins  with  which  its  voracious  appetite  is 
gorged. 

It  would  be  easy  to  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  our  work,  exam 
ples  of  this  hostility  of  the  Romish  Church  to  liberty;  volumes  oi 
confessions  might  be  collected  from  the  lips  and  pens  of  both  priests 
and  press,  all  going  to  establish  beyond  question  their  undying  hatred 
to  the  freedom  of  the  individual.  The  great  writer  and  defender  oi 
Romish  doctrines  in  this  country,  in  his  Review,  frankly  confesses  ai- 
follows : 

"  I  never  think  of  publishing  any  thing  in  regard  to  the  Church, 
without  submitting  my  articles  to  the  Bishop  for  inspection,  approval, 
and  endorsement."  And  after  this  important  admission,  he  declares 
(with  the  Bishop's  authority,  of  course,)  that  "Protestantism  of  every 
form  has  not,  and  never  can  have,  any  rights  where  Catholicity  is  tri 
umphant."* 

Daniel  O'Connell,  in  one  of  his  speeches  in  parliament,  gives  like 
testimony  :  "  I  declare  my  most  unequivocal  submission  to  the  head 
of  the  Church,  and  to  the  hierarchy  in  its  different  orders.  If  the 
Bishops  make  a  declaration  on  this  bill,  I  never  would  be  heard  speak 
ing  against  it,  but  would  submit  at  once,  unequivocally,  to  that  deci 
sion.  They  have  only  to  decide,  and  they  also  close  my  mouth  ;  they 
have  only  to  determine,  and  I  obey.  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that 
such  is  the  duty  of  the  Catholics"^ 

*  Brownson's  Review. 

t  Spotskniskay,  recently  a  Eomisli  priest,  officiating  in.  Paterson,  was  de 
nounced  as  a  heretic,  and  excommunicated  by  Bishop  Hughes,  of  New  York 
city,  because  he  went  to  hear  a  Protestant  minister  lecture  on  Popery,  a  thing 
the  priest  declares  he  could  do  in  Poland  without  censure,  "but  could  not  do 
it  in  this  land  of  liberty  without  expulsion  from  his  Church." 


NECESSITY  OF  INSTITUTIONAL   SAFEGUARDS.         269 

By  this  kind  of  evidence  of  the  proscription  of  all  kinds  of  indi 
vidual  liberty  in  the  individual,  the  spirit  of  animosity  to  American 
institutions,  that  directs  the  action  of  Romish  priests,  is  laid  open  to 
public  inspection.  It  is  bitter  and  deadly  in  its  operation,  to  the  last 
conceivable  limit.  It  affects  to  be  quiet,  when  quiet  is  for  its  interest, 
yet  never  hesitates  to  trample  ruthlessly  on  all  law,  and  all  liberty, 
when  its  increased  power  permits  it  so  to  do  writh  impunity.  By  a 
process  of  astonishing  accretion,  it  builds  up  a  power  within  the  State, 
the  ostensible  purposes  of  which  are  to  overshadow  every  combina 
tion  of  opposing  influence,  and  to  subvert  and  defy  all  the  forces  of 
the  civil  government.  It  demands  of  its  votaries  a  pledge  totally 
vitiating  their  solemn  oaths  as  freemen,  and  offers  their  united  politi 
cal  influence  to  that  party  which  shall  show  itself  most  supple  to  its 
insinuating  address. 

Against  such  a  power  there  is  great  need  that  Americans  should 
secure  proper  protection.  Whether  it  seek  to  effect  its  objects  by 
fraud  or  force,  by  stratagem  or  violence,  it  should  be  resisted  in  sea 
son,  and  resisted  energetically  to  the^end.  The  existence  of  such  a 
power,  aiming  to  reach  political  advantage  under  the  professions  of 
devotion  to  religion,  is  both  alarming  in  its  tendencies,  and  incompat 
ible  with  the  spirit  and  character  of  free  institutions. 

III.  "We  stand  in  great  danger  of  losing  our  liberties,  from  a  growing 
indifference  to  the  exercise  of  our  own  rights  as  voters  at  the  polls. 

In  itself  considered,  this  point  is  not  strictly  to  be  regarded  as  of 
an  aggressive  nature ;  but  when  viewed  in  connection  with  the  other 
two,  it  assumes  a  magnitude  and  importance  calculated  to  arrest  the 
attention  of  the  most  careless  and  unreflecting.  It  implies  a  state  of 
things  within,  in  perfect  co-operation  with  the  dangerous  designs  from 
without ;  a  previous  preparation,  that  promises  more  certain  success 
to  the  destructive  plans  by  which  republican  liberty  is  besieged. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  our  present  purpose,  to  speculate  on  the 
causes  of  such  supreme  indifference,  on  the  part  of  freemen,  to  the 
safety  of  their  high  privileges ;  enough  that  a  truth  so  melancholy  is 
forced  on  our  attention.  The  fact  is  palpably  plain.  The  results 


270  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

betray  themselves  on  all  sides — in  an  inferior  grade  of  public  func 
tionaries  ;  in  the  impudent  presumptions  of  demagogism  ;  in  the 
greater  abundance  of  examples  of  intrigue ;  and  in  the  general  dete 
rioration  of  that  healthy  influence  which  properly  belongs  to  a  nation 
of  intelligent  freemen. 

Many  of  the  best  men  of  America  refuse  to  go  to  the  polls,  while 
the  worst  never  fail  to  avail  themselves  of  their  privilege.  It  is  im 
possible  that  this  should  long  remain  so,  without  a  gradual  change, 
for  the  worse,  in  the  character  of  our  government.  What  is  most 
needed  at  the  polls,  is  the  constant  expression  of  the  opinion  and  will 
of  the  discreet  and  temperate  portion  of  the  community.  It  is  only 
upon  the  sentiments  of  the  more  intelligent  and  sober  citizens,  that  a 
republic  like  ours  can  hope  to  build  a  reputation  for  extended  useful 
ness;  or  a  renown  that  will  bear  its  name,  like  a  blessing,  to  every 
quarter  of  the  habitable  globe.  Their  common  country  has  a  right 
to  demand  their  most  zealous  services  in  her  behalf.  She  appeals  to 
them  in  the  name  of  that  ample  protection  which  her  laws  afford ; 
she  warns  them  by  considerations  of  fear,  of  comfort,  of  happiness, 
and  of  obedience  to  their  sincerest  convictions  of  duty.  If  they  give 
over  their  efforts  on  her  behalf,  what  will  all  other  efforts  be  worth  ? 
If  they  are  careless  of  the  safety  of  her  noble  institutions,  to  whom 
can  she  look  with  the  hope  of  ever  finding  for  them  either  advocates 
or  defenders  ? 

We  do  not  claim  that  the  complete  vote  of  our  more  intelligent 
citizens  would  be  capable  of  paralyzing  the  force  of  that  ignorance 
which  has  of  late  years  been  making  such  astounding  progress  at  the 
ballot-box.  We  would  not  venture,  as  yet,  to  hope  as  much  ;  but  the 
influence  of  that  vote  would  give  an  impulse  to  the  cause  of  enlight 
ened  freedom,  such  as  has  not  been  felt  since  the  days  of  the  heroic 
founders  of  the  Republic.  It  would  awaken  loftier  resolves  in  tho 
breasts  of  many  who  now  but  help  to  confirm  the  secret  decrees  of 
demagogism.  It  would  inspire  the  masses  with  more  noble  senti 
ments  respecting  liberty,  with  the  wand  of  whose  living  spirit  they 
have  hardly  yet  been  touched.  It  would  shake  off  drowsiness  and 


NECESSITY   OF   INSTITUTIONAL   SAFEGUARDS.          271 

indifference  to  matters  of  the  highest  concern.  It  would  put  the 
plotting  enemies  of  freedom  to  rout,  and  her  guilty  and  silent  betray 
ers  to  shame.  It  would  work  a  mighty  miracle  of  renovation  in  all 
branches  of  government — in  its  character,  in  its  policy,  in  its  influ 
ence,  and  in  its  world-wide  reputation. 

Unless  the  better  class  of  citizens  do  step  forward  with  alacrity,  to 
preserve  our  institutions  from  the  fearful  evils  to  which  their  supine- 
ness  may  expose  them,  there  "can  remain  but  little  hope  for  us  in  the 
future  as  a  nation  of  intelligent  freemen.  Unless  they  interest  them 
selves  individually  in  •  all  the  elections,  from  those  of  the  highest 
importance  down  .to  those  of  the  lowest,  it  may  not  be  long  before 
their  interference  may  come  very  sadly  too  late.  They  should  see 
for  themselves,  what  are  the  fearful  penalties  of  supineness  in  the 
,cause  of  their  own  liberties.  They  should  understand  what  a  crime 
they  are  guilty  of,  when,  in  disgust  with  the  low  party  tactics  of  the 
day,  they  relinquish'  their  right  to  trample  the  obnoxious  system 
under  foot.  They  must  be  made  to  feel  that  safety  was  never  yet 
known  to  be  found  in  inaction ;  that  it  is  intelligence  and  virtue  alone 
that  can  preserve  the  State ;  that  the  ballot-box — so  powerful  both 
for  good  and  for  harm — carries  within  itself  the  most  effectual  rem 
edy  for  all  evils ;  and  that  if  they  cease  to  wage  perpetual  warfare 
against  tyranny,  ignorance,  and  usurpation,  there  will  remain  to  them 
but  a  share  in  that  general  misfortune,  of  which  they  have  been  the 
equally  guilty  authors,  and  in  which  they  must  abide  as  silent  and 
uncomplaining  sufferers. 

It  behooves  the  American  people  to  make  seasonable  provision 
against  their  external  dangers  and  internal  fears.  Every  human 
heart  beating  quick  at  the  name  of  Freedom,  calls  on  us  to  guard 
with  sleepless  vigilance  the  high  trust  that  is  committed  to  our 
hands.  Untold  generations,  in  the  far-off  future,  implore  us  to  relax 
no  effort,  and  to  forego  no  exertion,  in  order  to  secure  its  priceless 
blessings  to  the  people  of  all  coming  time. 


THE  NATURALIZATION  LAWS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"  Then  the  chief  captain  came  and  said  unto  him,  '  Tell  me,  art  thou  a  Roman  ?'  He  said,  '  Yea.' 
And  the  chief  captain  answered,  '  With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  freedom  ;'  and  Paul  said,  '  BUT  I 

WAS   FREE   BORN.'  "—Si.  PAUL. 

IT  is  clearly  necessary,  in  order  to  the  preservation  of  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  every  country,  that  its  own  citizens,  who  love  and  obey 
those  laws,  should  reserve  to  theraselres  the  exclusive  power  of  modify 
ing  them.  If,  however,  they  choose,  they  may  of  course  admit  to  the 
participation  in  that  privilege,  any  persons  born  and  educated  in  for 
eign  lands.  The  obvious  condition  of  such  admission  is  the  possession 
of  such  qualifications  for  citizenship  as  are  required  of  the  natives ; 
namely,  a  good  moral  character,  a  certain  amount  of  habituation 
to  the  laws  of  the  land,  and  such  a  love  and  respect  for  those  laws  as 
will  make  the  new-comer  a  citizen  not  in  form  only,  but  in  heart  and 
soul ;  not  merely  a  receiver  of  favors  from  the  country  of  his  adop 
tion,  but  a  true  and  faithful  adopted  son. 

In  monarchies,  where  the  mass  of  the  people  have  no  influence  upon 
the  conduct  of  the  home  or  foreign  affairs  of  the  nation,  there  is  often 
no  mode  of  admitting  aliens  to  full  citizenship  ;  and  wherever  there  is 
such  a  mode,  it  is  tedious  and  formal.  Even  in  England,  the  freest 
of  European  governments,  an  alien  can  only  be  naturalized  by  a 
special  act  of  Parliament  in  his  favor. 

The  United  States  of  America,  on  the  contrary,  as  if  with  a  benev 
olent,  generous  trust  in  the  good-will  of  the  human  race,  has  ever 
extended  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  all  the  world,  and  has  opened 
the  doors  of  her  temple  of  freedom  to  all  comers,  with  a  liberality 
wholly  without  precedent  or  parallel.  The  only  delay  necessary,  before 
admission  to  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  privileges  of  our  intelligent  and 


274  A    VOICE   TO    AMEKICA. 

educated  native  freemen,  is  that  of  a  five  years'  residence  ;  the  only 
forms  are  the  reasonable  declaration  of  intentions  of  naturalization, 
the  obviously  indispensable  one  of  abjuring  all  foreign  allegiance,  and 
swearing  to  be  a  faithful  citizen  of  this  country. 

We  proceed  to  give  a  careful  analysis  of  the  Naturalization  Laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  also  of  the  several  States.  There  is  no 
Constitutional  guarantee  to  aliens  of  any  light  to  naturalization,  al 
though  such  an  impression  extensively  prevails.  The  Constitution 
only  says,  that  Congress  may  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  naturaliza 
tion.  It  is,  therefore,  of  course,  entirely  practicable  to  refuse,  if  we 
please,  the  privilege  of  citizenship  to  aliens  on  any  terms,  and  thus 
to  confine  their  political  capacities  within  the  United  States  to  the 
exercise  of  such  rights  of  State  citizenship  as  the  several  States  may 
choose  to  give  them.  But,  as  has  been  before  remarked,  a  contrary 
and  very  expansively  liberal  policy  has  uniformly  prevailed  in  this 
respect. 

The  first  Naturalization  Act  for  the  United  States  was  approved  in 
1790  ;  and  was  so  liberal  in  character,  as  to  show  the  desire  then  pre 
vailing  to  attract  population  to  our  unsettled  territories.  It  demanded 
for  admission  to  citizenship,  proof  before  any  court  of  record  (that  is, 
any  court  having  a  clerk  and  official  seal),  of  good  character,  and  of 
residence  in  the  United  States  during  two  years  preceding  the  appli 
cation,  and  residence  in  the  State  where  it  wras  made  during  one  year 
so  preceding.  In  1795,  however,  a  more  stringent  law  was  passed, 
requiring,  "  the  usual  oaths,"  proof  of  good  character,  a  declaration 
of  intentions  three  years  in  advance  of  admission,  five  years'  resi 
dence  in  the  country,  and  one  year  in  the  State,  and  also,  that  the 
applicant  is  "  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good  order  and  happiness  of 
the  same."  In  1798,  the  terms  of  residence  were  again  lengthened  to 
fourteen  years  in  the  country,  and  five  years  in  the  State,  and  the 
intention  of  naturalization  was  required  five  years  in  advance;  be 
sides  that,  the  forms  of  record  of  admission  were  made  more  expan 
sive  and  full,  various  registrations  required,  and  naturalization  was 


THE   XATTKALIZATIOX   LAWS.  275 

refused  to  citizens  and  natives  of  nations  at  war  with  the  United 
States. 

In  1802,  an  act  establishing  rules  for  naturalization  was  passed, 
which  has  been  so  little  modified  that  the  law,  as  substantially  in 
force  from  that  time  to  this,  may  be  stated  together,  as  in  force  at 
present.  The  alien,  then,  who  now  desires  to  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  must  appear  before  a  State  common  law  court  of  record, 
or  a  circuit  or  district  court  of  the  United  States,  or  the  clerk  of  one 
of  those  courts,  at  least  two  years  (since  1824,  from  1802  to  182 4, 
three  years)  before  admission  to  citizenship.  There  he  must  swear  or 
affirm,  that  he  honestly  intends  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  renounce  all  allegiance  to  any  other  sovereignty. 

This  preliminary  having  been  performed,  the  applicant  must,  at  the 
end  of  the  two  years,  take  the  oath  or  affirmation  so  promised ;  and  these 
proceedings  are  entered  by  the  clerk  upon  the  records  of  the  court. 
The  applicant  must  also  prove,  before  his  naturalization,  to  the  satis 
faction  of  the  court,  that  lie  has  resided  in  the  United  States  at  least 
five  years,  and  in  the  State  where  the  court  is  held  at  least  one  year ; 
and  that  during  that  time  he  has  behaved  like  a  man  of  good  moral 
character,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good  order  and  happiness  of  the 
same.  Residence  must  be  proved  by  the  oaths  or  affirmations  of 
two  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  the  oatli  of  the  applicant  being 
inadmissible.  He  must,  if  he  has  borne  any  title  or  belonged  to  any 
order  of  nobility,  renounce  it,  and  the  renunciation  is  to  be  recorded. 
No  applicants  from  any  country  at  war  with  the  United  States  are 
admissible.  Minor  aliens,  residing  here  three  years  next  before  their 
coming  of  age,  and  continuing  to  reside  here  after  that  time,  are  ad 
missible  without  the  previous  declaration  of  intention,  on  compliance 
with  the  other  provisions  of  the  law.  Aliens  resident  here  before 
1812,  and  sufficiently  proving  that  fact,  and  also  continued  subse 
quent  residence  up  to  application,  are  also  admissible  without  declara 
tion  of  intentions.  Widows  and  children  of  persons  having  made 
declaration  of  intentions,  and  having  died  before  naturalization,  are 


276  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

considered  citizens  upon  taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  law ;  as  also 
are  minor  children  of  naturalized  persons,  if  dwelling  within  the 
United  States ;  persons  born  without  the  limits  of  the  United  States, 
whose  fathers  were  citizens  at  the  time  of  their  birth ;  and  women 
legally  capable  of  naturalization,  married  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

In  only  two  of  the  States,  Indiana  and  Wisconsin,  does  there  ap 
pear  to  be  any  express  and  separate  provision  for  the  admission  ol 
aliens  to  State  citizenship.  In  these  States,  aliens  twenty-one  years 
old,  having  declared  their  intention  of  becoming  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  having,  in  Indiana,  a  residence  of  one  year  in  the  country, 
and  six  months  in  the  State,  may  become  voters.  In  the  remainder 
of  the  States,  it  is  merely  provided  that  those  seeking  to  become 
voters  shall,  besides  occasional  property  and  other  qualifications,  have 
been  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  State  where  the  applica 
tion  is  made,  for  terms  varying  from  the  instant  of  their  arrival,  as  in 
Utah  and  Wisconsin,  and  ten  days  in  New  York,  to  two  years.  Very 
generally,  it  may  be  said  that  in  five  years  from  entering  the  country, 
any  foreigner  may  be  a  voting  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

Naturalization,  as  we  already  have  stated  by  implication,  is  not  a 
right  vested  in  foreigners.  Xo  man  coming  to  our  shores  from  abroad, 
has  any  natural  indefeasible  title  to  the  exercise  of  the  voting  power, 
any  more  than  he  has  to  draw  a  thousand  dollars  out  of  one  of  our 
banks  to  get  a  start  in  business.  It  is  a  privilege  conferred,  not  a 
right  conceded.  Accordingly,  the  Constitution,  giving  Congress,  if  it 
chooses,  the  power  to  establish  naturalization  laws,  says  nothing  of 
aliens,  except  what  is  restrictive.  It  forbids  aliens  from  being  Pres 
ident  or  Vice-President.  It  requires  a  long  citizenship  for  members 
of  Congress. 

The  danger  to  be  apprehended  from  carelessness  in  this  partic 
ular,  has  been  foreseen  by  our  best  men.  The  following  extract  from 
the  writings  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  far- 
seeing  of  the  great  men  who  have  influenced  the  politics  of  our  coun- 
trv,  fullv  sustains  the  views  here  taken  of  the  essential  significance  of 


THE   NATURALIZATION   LAWS.  277 

naturalization  laws,  and  of  the  dangers  to  our  country,  from  laxity  in 
making  or  administering  them.  He  says:  "But  are  there  no  incon 
veniences  to  be  thrown  into  the  scale  against  the  advantages  expected 
from  a  multiplication  of  numbers  by  the  importation  of  foreigners  ? 
It  is  for  the  happiness  of  those  united  in  society  to  harmonize  as  much 
as  possible  in  matters,  which  they  must  of  necessity  transact  together. 
Civil  government  being  the  sole  object  of  forming  societies,  its  admin 
istration  must  be  conducted  by  common  consent  Every  species  of 
government  has  its  specific  principles.  Ours,  perhaps,  are  more  pecu 
liar  than  those  of  any  other  in  the  universe.  It  is  a  composition  of 
the  freest  principles  in  the  English  Constitution,  with  others  derived 
from  natural  reason.  To  these  nothing  can  be  more  opposed  than 
the  maxims  of  absolute  monarchies.  Yet  from  such  we  are  to  expect 
the  greatest  number  of  emigrants.  They  will  bring  with  them  the 
principles  of  the  governments  they  leave,  imbibed  in  their  early  youth; 
or,  if  able  to  throw  them  off,  it  will  be  in  exchange  for  an  unbounded 
licentiousness,  passing,  as  is  usual,  from  one  extreme  to  the  other.  It 
would  be  a  miracle  were  they  to  stop  precisely  at  the  point  of  tem 
perate  liberty.  These  principles,  with  their  language,  they  will  trans 
mit  to  their  children.  In  proportion  to  their  numbers,  they  Avill  share 
with  us  the  legislation.  They  will  infuse  into  it  their  spirit,  warp  and 
bias  its  directions,  and  render  it  a  heterogeneous,  incoherent,  distracted 
mass," 

Have  not  these  predictions  been  fulfilled  ?  Have  we  not  already 
amongst  us  an  Irish  nationality,  a  German  nationality,  a  French  na 
tionality,  a  Dutch  nationality,  an  Italian  nationality  ?  Has  not  our 
legislation  already  been  "  warped  and  biased"  by  their  influence  ? 
Have  they  not  already,  to  a  great  extent,  "infused  their  spirit"  into 
it,  and  are  they  not  trying  to  make  the  infusion  stronger  ? 

The  right  and  duty  of  government,  enjoyed  by  the  free  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  by  them  now  granted  to  aliens  at  the 
rate  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  a  year,  is  one  of  the  most 
weighty  responsibilities  imposed  upon  man.  This  grave  and  lofty 
power,  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  usually  shown  thern- 

13 


278  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

selves  well  able  to  appreciate  and  to  use.  But  whether  they  have 
done  wisely  in  granting  to  aliens  such  free  admission  to  their  birth 
right  privilege,  may  well  be  doubted.  The  citizenship  of  this  coun 
try  should  only  be  conferred  upon  those  who  will  become  useful  and 
reputable  citizens.  Such  was  in  fact  the  design  of  those  who  enacted 
our  naturalization  laws.  It  was  not  intended  to  permit  our  glorious 
and  free  institutions,  to  be  altered  at  the  ignorant  pleasure  of  men 
brought  up  under  monarchies,  and  drilled  out  of  self-control.  It  was 
intended  to  admit  only  those  who  would  make  good  citizens,  and  no 
others;  and  to  admit  them  on  proof  of  their  fitness:  five  years'  resi 
dence  has  hitherto  been  deemed  sufficient,  and  ceitain  testimony  to 
good  behavior  and  attachment  to  Republican  principles. 

1.   The  defects  of  our  present  naturalization  laws. 

The  term  of  five  years,  with  honorable  exceptions,  is  not  sufficient 
to  prepare  a  foreigner  to  assist  in  governing  this  country.  The  mass 
of  emigrants  are  from  the  lower  classes  of  the  European  populations. 
To  the  limited  natural  powers  and  low  grade  of  moral  and  mental 
nature,  which  are  the  results  of  the  depressed  physical  and  social  con 
dition  of  their  ancestors  for  so  many  generations,  they  add  the  un 
happy  results  of  a  political  education,  expressly  contrived  to  unfit 
them  for  the  exercise  of  such  rights  as  those  of  our  citizens.  They 
are  kept  from  thinking,  discussing,  or  acting.  The  attempt  to  do 
either  of  these  things  is  punished  as  sedition — rebellion — treason. 
So,  what  is  here  a  right  and  a  duty,  is  there  a  crime.  Moreover,  they 
learn  to  hate  a  law  which  always  forces  them  from  without,  and 
rejoice  in  the  only  liberty  they  can  conceive  of,  which  is  not  and 
licentiousness.  Coming  here,  then,  not  only  with  the  need  of  learning 
to  be  wise  freemen,  but  of  unlearning  early  education,  and  that  most 
often  at  an  age  past  the  easily  moulded  character  of  childhood — 
when  the  strength  and  fixity  of  adult  age  has  hardened  their  preju 
dices  and  increased  their  obstinacy ; — coining  here  under  such  a 
double  and  triple  disqualification,  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  in  five 
years  of  the  life  which  they  lead  here,  they  can  understand  our  insti 
tutions  sufficient  to  make  their  political  intelligence  and  trustworth- 


THE   XATIUJAL1ZATION    LAWS.  279 

iness  equal  to  that  of  Americans  born  and  educated  ?  If  the  plain 
statement  of  such  a  case  as  this  is  not  proof  enough,  no  arguments 
could  avail.  Without  inquiring  what  term  of  years  is  sufficient  for 
the  purpose  of  training  aliens  to  American  freedom,  it  is  at  least  per 
fectly  clear  that  a  longer  term  should  be  required  than  the  present 
one. 

The  present  naturalization  law  confides  to  clerks  of  courts — insig 
nificant  assistant  officers ;  men  unknown  and  irresponsible  —  the 
important  duty  of  judging  upon  the  fitness  of  candidates  for  citizen 
ship.  As  the  law  now  reads,  all  the  forms  of  admission  may  be 
complied  with,  either  before  one  of  the  proper  courts,  or  before  the 
clerk  of  one  of  them.  It  is  not  well  that  such  vitally  important  trusts 
should  be  confided  to  such  subordinate  officials.  They  are  too  much 
tempted  to  dispatch  the  business  for  the  sake  of  the  fee,  and  to  admit 
the  voter,  for  the  same  purpose,  without  sufficient  scrutiny  of  him  or 
his  qualifications. 

2.  Loose  modes  of  administering  the  laiv. 

The  merest  apparent  formal  compliance  with  the  statutory  require 
ments  has,  for  a  long  time,  been  quite  sufficient  to  secure  citizen 
ship  to  the  applicant.  Few  persons  need  to  be  reminded  how  rife 
are  cases  of  fraudulent  admission,  in  violation  even  of  the  residence 
clause  of  the  law.  Impudence  and  false  swearing  by  the  claimant, 
and  frequently  a  guilty  complicity,  or  at  least  a  guilty  sufferance  on 
the  part  of  the  admitting  authority,  have  availed  to  admit  thousands 
on  thousands  of  aliens  to  the  full  exercise  of  the  lights  of  citi 
zenship  within  a  year — nay,  of  a  month — after  their  arrival  on  our 
shores.  However  satisfactory  the  usual  proof  of  residence  and  char 
acter  may  be  to  clerks  of  courts,  who  are  intent  upon  their  fees,  or 
securing  votes  for  a  coming  election,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that,  in 
very  many  cases,  this  proof  is  such  as  would  be  entirely  unsatisfac 
tory  to  a  judge,  if  offered  in  court,  in  regular  course  of  law.  Nor 
is  the  inquiry  usually  conducted  with  the  care  and  seriousness  which 
its  importance  demands.  If  there  be  ever  any  value  in  forms,  it 
is  when  they  are  used  to  impress  upon  weak  or  ignorant  minds, 


280  A   VOICE   TO   AMEKICA. 

the  weight  of  a  great  truth,  or  the  importance  of  a  solemn  duty. 
The  hasty  and  careless  performance  of  a  ceremony,  whose  hurried 
administration  commonly  turns  it  into  mere  rigmarole,  is  not  a  safe 
or  decent  mode  of  creating  citizens  for  a  great  republican  empire. 
It  degrades  and  cheapens  our  national  privileges  in  our  own  eyes, 
as  well  as  in  those  of  the  recipient.  No  ignorant  man  is  likely  to 
consider  that  responsibility  very  dignified,  which  he  undertakes  at 
the  mere  solicitation  of  a  politician,  by  the  payment  of  a  few  shil 
lings  or  of  nothing  at  all,  and  by  the  swearing  of  a  few  indistinct 
oaths,  administered  by  a  careless  understrapper,  in  a  side-room  or 
dirty  office. 

There  can,  of  course,  be  no  reasonable  objection  to  the  admission 
of  aliens  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  our  citizenship,  provided  only  they 
be  fit  for  the  trust.  It  would  be  a  sad  departure  from  the  lofty 
ground  of  benevolent  and  impartial  justice  and  freedom,  upon  which 
our  government  is  founded,  to  proclaim,  that  hereafter  the  accident 
of  birth  alone  shall  determine  the  political  power  of  all  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States,  and  that  none  coming  from  without  their  limits, 
good  or  bad,  shall  ever  acquire  the  rights  within  them  which  our 
nation  has  ever  held  to* be  fundamental  rights  of  man.  That  would 
be  an  unworthy  political  bigotry.  But  it  is  time  that  our  naturaliza 
tion  laws,  and  the  administration  of  them,  were  put  upon  a  safer 
footing. 

Foreigners  should  be  required  to  show,  that  they  have,  at  least, 
been  here  a  sufficient  time  to  permit  them  to  learn  the  duties  of  an 
American  citizen.  They  should  be  required,  not  only,  as  nowT,  to 
prove  the  vague  generalities  of  the  statute — that  they  "  have  behaved 
as  men  of  good  moral  character,  attached  to  the  principles  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  well  disposed  to  the  good  order 
and  happiness  of  the  same" — but  to  give,  as  in  the  case  of  residence, 
some  tangible  proof,  aside  from  an  oath,  that  they  are  capable  of 
intelligent  attachment  to  our  institutions.  They  should  be  required  to 
show,  in  the  presence  of  the  authority  admitting  them,  that  they  can 
speak  and  read  reasonably  well,  the  language  in  which  was  originally 


THE   NATUBALIZATION   LAWS.  281 

written  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  And,  lastly,  the  duty 
of  admission,  and  the  attendant  examinations,  should  be  confided  only 
to  men  whose  weight  and  dignity  of  character,  and  high  official  trust, 
prove  them  capable  of  appreciating  the  importance  of  the  duty,  and 
of  performing  it  honestly.  No  official  of  lower  grade  than  the  judge 
of  a  State  court  of  record,  should  be  allowed  to  determine  upon  the 
qualifications  or  admissibility  of  aliens,  applying  for  t]*6  important 
trust  of  citizenship  of  the  United  States. 


UNITED   STATES  AND   IMMIGRATION, 

"  In  proportion  to  their  numbers,  they  will  share  with  us  the  legislation.  They  will  infuse  into  it 
their  spirit,  warp  and  bias  its  directions,  and  render  it  a  heterogeneous,  incoherent,  distracted  mass." 

JEFFERSON. 

FOR  three-quarters  of  a  century,  a  great,  steady,  and  increasing 
stream  of  Europeans  has  flowed  westward,  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
into  the  United  States.  Commencing  at  the  rate  of  one  or  two  thou 
sand  a  year,  it  now  averages  four  hundred  thousand  annually. 

The  causes  of  this  great  modern  exodus  are  easily  understood. 
They  have  always  been  moderate  circumstances,  poverty,  misfortune, 
crime,  or  political  offences  in  Europe ;  and  the  hopes  of  better  days, 
more  wealth,  peace,  ease,  freedom,  and  happiness  here. 

Of  late,  special  causes  have  given  a  great  stimulus  to  the  move 
ment.  The  barbarous  evictions  of  poor  cotters  in  Ireland ;  political 
reactions,  and  consequent  oppressive  government  measures,  on  the 
Continent;  the  unsettled  horizon  of  the  European  future,  which  is 
cloudy  with  the  shadows  of  continued  wars ;  the  organized  operations 
of  governments  and  private  individuals  to  send  hither  the  paupers 
and  criminals  who  accumulate  in  their  alrnshouses  and  jails, — have, 
for  the  last  few  years,  powerfully  co-operated  with  the  universal 
instinctive  desire  after  profit,  peace,  and  freedom. 

Of  European  emigrants  to  the  United  States,  the  great  majority  are 
from  what  are  there  termed  "  the  humbler  classes."  They  are  usu 
ally  agricultural  laborers  or  mechanics,  and  include  only  a  very  small 
proportion  of  persons  educated,  or  of  easy  fortune.  There  is  also 
among  them  an  entirely  disproportionate  excess  of  absolute  paupers, 
hospital  patients,  and  criminals — a  fact  due  to  th«  organized  expatri 
ation  of  such  persons,  above  alluded  to. 


284  A  VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

The  statements  which  follow  will  furnish  a  competent  general  view 
of  the  number,  character,  source,  distribution,  and  moral  and  educa 
tional  condition  of  the  foreign  immigration  into  our  Union. 

There  are  now  in  this  country  about  three  millions  of  persons  born 
without  the  territories  of  the  United  States ;  and  of  foreigners  arid 
their  descendants  born  within  the  United  States,  about  four  millions, 
Of  these  three  millions,  more  than  four-fifths  have  come  since  1830, 
and  considerably  more  than  half  since  1840.  The  annual  addition 
to  the  number — which  was,  in  1790,  about  two  thousand — was,  in 
1820,  nearly  five  thousand,  and  after  that  time  rapidly  increased,  until 
it  ranged  at  twenty-seven  thousand  in  1830,  eighty-four  thousand  in 
1840,  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  in  1845,  two  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  in  1850,  and  rose  to  its  greatest  number  thus  far, 
during  the  year  1854 — about  four  hundred  and  sixty  thousand — 
without  any  indications  having  as  yet  appeared  that  the  maximum 
has  been  reached. 

Of  the  four  millions  of  foreigners  and  their  descendants,  Ireland 
has  usually  sent  a  larger  portion  than  any  other  one  country,  and 
Germany  the  next  greatest.  For  the  last  year  or  two,  however,  the 
German  contingent  has  been  fast  increasing,  and,  in  1854,  wras  more 
than  double  the  Irish,  and  nearly  half  of  the  whole. 

These  four  millions  belong,  by  birth  or  immediate  descent,  to  the 
undermentioned  countries,  in  the  following  round  numbers,  which  are, 
however,  nearly  correct :  To  Ireland,  about  one  million  ;  to  England, 
Scotland,  and  Wales,  more  than  half  a  million  (making  a  total  from 
the  British  islands  of  about  one  million  five  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand) ;  to  Germany,  nine  hundred  thousand ;  to  the  remainder  of 
North  America — namely,  Mexico,  West  Indies,  and  Canadas — about 
two  hundred  thousand ;  to  France  (including  Belgium),  seventy-five 
thousand ;  to  Switzerland,  twenty-five  thousand  ;  to  Scandinavia  (Swe 
den,  Norway,  and  Denmark),  twenty-four  thousand  ;  to  Asia,  Africa, 
and  East  Indies  (about  three-fourths  of  all  being  Chinese),  twenty 
thousand  ;  to  the  south  of  Europe  (Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  Sardinia, 
Greece,  and  Tin-key)  twelve  thousand  ;  to  South  America,  fifteen  linn- 


UNITED   STATES  AND   IMMIGRATION.  285 

dred ;  to  Russia  and  the  Sclavonic  races,  fourteen  hundred.  Probably 
seventy-five  thousand  have  entered  the  country  besides,  whose  birth 
places  are  not  recorded. 

Of  the  immigration  during  1854 — the  largest  for  any  one  year 
thus  far — we  furnish  the  following  analysis,  on  the  same  principle  of 
classification  with  that  just  given.  It  will  be  observed  that,  of  some 
nationalities — the  Chinese,  Scandinavian,  and  Swiss  particularly — a 
very  large  proportion  has  arrived  during  the  year.  From  Ireland, 
one  hundred  thousand ;  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  fifty-four 
thousand  (British  islands,  therefore,  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  thou 
sand)  ;  Germany,  two  hundred  thousand  ;  remaining  parts  of  North 
America,  and  West  Indies,  nine  thousand ;  France  and  Belgium,  thir 
teen  thousand  five  hundred  ;  Switzerland,  eight  thousand  ;  Scandina 
via,  four  thousand ;  thirteen  thousand  Chjnamen  ;  south  of  Europe, 
two  thousand  eight  hundred. 

The  port  of  New  York  receives  about  two-thirds  of  the  entire 
number  of  immigrants ;  New  Orleans  and  Boston  half  of  the  re 
mainder  ;  and  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and  other  Atlantic  ports, 
and,  for  the  last  few  years,  California,  the  rest.  Landing  in  large 
cities,  a  great  proportion  of  the  whole  remain  there,  to  fill  almshouses 
and  hospitals — to  beg,  sicken,  and  die.  Of  the  immigration  in  1850, 
there  remained  in  our  forty  largest  towns,  forty  in  the  hundred  of  the 
whole  number  of  Irish,  and  thirty-six  in  the  hundred  of  the  immi 
grant  Germans.  The  remainder  distributed  themselves  throughout 
the  country,  the  Irish  especially  gathering  along  the  lines  of  the 
newer  internal  improvements,  for  work,  and  living  a  vagrant,  rowdy 
life,  which  keeps  their  children  from  being  educated,  and  themselves 
from  being  civilized ;  while  the  Germans,  and  in  particular  the  Hol 
landers  and  Scandinavians,  devote  themselves  to  trade  or  farming. 
The  foreign  population  gather  principally  into  the  northern  range  of 
States — the  Eastern,  Middle,  and  Northwestern;  there  being  about 
thirteen  foreigners  in  every  hundred  inhabitants  in  the  first  and  last 
sections :  while  in  the  Middle  States — where  the  vast  congregation 
in  and  about  New  York,  however,  is  the  principal  cause  of  the 

13* 


286  A  VOICE  TO  AMEEICA. 

high  average — there  are  twenty  foreigners  to  the  hundred  inhabit 
ants. 

What  amount  of  property  the  foreign  incomers  bring  to  the  United 
States,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate.  The  average  of  their  wealth,  as 
well,  as  of  their  morals,  has  declined  for  many  years ;  indeed,  nearly 
as  their  numbers  have  increased.  There  are  individuals,  and  occa 
sionally  companies,  who  bring  with  them  capital  enough  to  establish 
them  in  business  ;  but  this  is  an  exception  and  not  a  rule,  and  an  ex 
ception  more  unfrequent  now,  when  so  many  actual  paupers  are  sent 
over,  who  arrive  with  no  money,  no  clothing,  and  hardly  any  rags, 
and  who  forthwith  fall  a  dead  weight  upon  the  public  and  private 
charities  of  the  land.  If,  however,  we  suppose  that  there  has  been  an 
average  of  ten  dollars  of  capital  added  to  that  already  in  the  country, 
by  each  immigrant,  the  whole  addition  of  wealth  would  amount  to 
thirty  millions  of  dollars.  But  there  will  be  no  balance  left  upon 
deducting  from  this,  or  from  twice  as  much,  the  expenses,  public  and 
private,  of  supporting  and  imprisoning  the  paupers  and  criminals  of 
the  number,  and  the  amounts  withdrawn  from  circulation  here,  and 
sent  to  Europe  to  help  out  the  poverty  at  home.  What  these  amounts 
are  it  is  as  difficult  to  state,  as  to  tell  the  entire  property  of  the  im 
migrants  ;  a  few  items,  however,  will  suffice  to  show  that  their  aggre 
gates  must  be  enormous.  In  four  years,  from  1848  to  1851  inclu 
sive,  the  English  Commissioners  of  Immigration  alone,  made  a  return 
of  sums  sent  back  from  America,  within  their  knowledge,  amounting 
to  a  total  of  fourteen  millions  of  dollars,  which  up  to  this  time  is  un 
doubtedly  swelled  to  at  least  thirty  millions.  Considering  then  what 
must  have  been  remitted  since  1790,  not  to  England  only,  but  to  Ire 
land,  Germany,  France,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  see  that  even  to  make  this  amount  good,  it  would  have  been  ne 
cessary  for  immigrants  to  bring  with  them  twenty  dollars  per  head, 
besides  earning  or  paying  for  their  living  from  the  day  of  arrival. 
Suppose  them  to  have  brought,  all  told,  even  a  hundred  millions  of 
dollars,  remittances  at  the  rate  of  thirty  millions  to  England  alone  in 
eight  years  would  soon  exhaust  that.  But  besides  this,  there  must  be 


UNITED   STATES  AND   IMMIGRATION.  28 T 

considered  the  expense  of  pauperism  and  ciime — items  also  incapable 
of  satisfactory  investigation.  Some  idea  of  their  extent  may  perhaps 
be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that  aside  from  all  public  and  private  char 
ities,  the  expenditure  for  public  support  of  paupers  of  foreign  birth, 
within  the  United  States,  during  the  single  year  ending  June  1st, 
1850,  even  by  the  imperfect  returns  gathered,  was  over  one  million 
four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  paupers  so  relieved  were  sixty-eight  thousand  five  hundred  in 
number,  while  the  number  of  paupers  of  American  birth  relieved  in 
the  same  way  was  sixty-six  thousand  four  hundred ;  namely,  one  sev 
enth  as  many  in  proportion  to  the  entire  number. 

Of  the  expenses  incurred  in  repressing  or  punishing  the  crimes  of 
immigrants,  only  an  extensive  and  laborious  search  could  supply  any 
account.  But  criminal  proceedings  are  expensive,  and  many  crimi 
nal  prosecutions  are  brought  against  foreigners.  Of  the  whole  num 
ber  of  criminals  convicted  during  the  year  ending  June  1st,  1850, 
twelve  thousand  eight  hundred  were  natives,  and  thirteen  thousand 
seven  hundred  foreigners ;  about,  as  before,  seven  times  as  many  in 
the  hundred  as  those  of  our  own  population. 

That  these  items  of  public  expenditure,  together  with  the  draw 
backs  already  stated,  would  exhaust  more  than  any  amount  which 
immigrants  may  have  brought  into  the  country,  is  very  certain. 

Lastly,  a  few  numbers  showing  the  educational  comparison  between 
the  foreigners  and  natives,  are  indispensable"  in  order  to  a  due  com 
prehension  of  their  tendencies  and  capacities,  when  domesticated 
with  us.  Of  the  whole  number  of  native  whites  in  the  United  States, 
then,  one  in  five  is  attending  school;  of  the  foreign  population,  only 
one-third  as  many — one  in  fifteen.  Of  natives,  of  school  age,  viz.,  be 
tween  five  and  fifteen,  eight  in  ten  are  at  school;  of  foreigners  of  same 
age,  only  five  in  ten.  Of  the  whole  number  of  native  whites,  about  four 
and  a  half  out  of  every  hundred  cannot  read  or  write  ;  of  foreigners, 
nine  out  of  the  same  number — twice  as  many.  Of  natives  over  twenty 
years  of  age,  eight  and  a  quarter  in  the  hundred  cannot  read  or 
write ;  of  foreigners,  fourteen  and  a  half  in  the  hundred. 


288  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

The  prospect  of  future  immigration,  however,  demands  some  con 
sideration.  There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  the  exodus  from 
Europe  to  America  should  not  yet  grow  and  continue.  Even  if  the 
remainder  of  the  Irish  population  should  stay  at  home,  there  are  mil 
lions  and  millions  on  the  Continent  who  will  complete  the  yearly 
number  of  immigrants.  So  far  as  material  interests  are  concerned, 
greater  and  greater  inducements  are  offered  by  the  increasing  wealth, 
enlarged  capacity,  and  demand  for  labor  within  our  own  country.  We 
have  abundance  of  room  and  of  riches.  Such  inducements  have 
already  operated  upon  so  many  of  the  over-crowded  and  poverty- 
stricken  European  nations,  that  it  is  quite  certain  that  they  will  con 
tinue  to  operate.  And  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  there  are  not 
wanting  impulses  to  co-operate  with  the  attractions  here.  The  future 
of  the  European  nations  is  stormy  ami  dark.  Revolutionary  princi 
ples  are  seething  under  the  apparently  smooth  surface  of  her  political 
aspect,  and  before  long,  despotism,  anarchy,  and  liberty  will  be  strug 
gling  together;  wars  and  rebellions  exert  their  disorganizing  and 
unhappy  influence,  and  increasing  crowds  will  flee  from  the  home 
misery  to  the  foreign  peace  upon  our  territory.  Europe  then,  crowded 
with  people,  oppressed  with  poverty,  containing  much  sterile  land, 
and  doomed  to  the  horrors  of  complicated  and  obstinate  wars,  will 
long  send  vast  and  vaster  yearly  bands  to  share  our  free  peace,  our 
rich  and  boundless  lands,  and  our  quiet  wealth.  We  shall,  apparent 
ly,  also  continue  to  receive  the  refuse  of  almshouses,  and  the  felon  gar 
bage  of  prisons,  shipped  hither  wholesale  by  European  governments 
and  societies. 

During  the  periods  often  years,  from  1810  to  1850,  the  successive 
totals  of  immigration  have  arisen  from  one  hundred  and  fourteen 
thousand  to  two  hundred  and  four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand,  and  lastly,  one  million  four  hundred  and  forty  thousand. 
'Within  the  ten  years  now  passing,  viz.,  from  1850  to  1800,  all  the 
facts  and  probabilities  indicate  that  we  shall  receive  four  millions  of 
European  immigrants  of  the  poorest,  and  most  worthless  class  of  the 
population.  What  the  increase  will  be  beyond  that  time,  we  have 


UNITED   STATES  AND   IMMIGRATION.  289 

no  means  of  estimating.  But  this  number  is  sufficient  to  show  the 
vast  and  increasing  importance  of  the  movement,  and  the  certainty  of 
the  speedy  operation  of  such  a  mass  of  humanity  upon  our  own  peo 
ple  in  some  way,  either  for  good  or  evil. 

We  have  not  here  the  time  nor  the  space  to  consider  fully  the  sig 
nificance  of  this  great  movement  of  the  European  population.  But 
none  can  fail  to  see  that  an  annual  irruption  into  this  country  of  half 
a  million  people,  who  are  shown  by  the  merest  arithmetical  compu 
tation  to  be  twice  as  ignorant  as  we  are,  and  (perhaps  in  consequence) 
seven  times  as  lawless,  and  seven  times  as  helpless  and  sick,  is  a  move 
ment  of  great  power.  Whether  its  results  are  or  will  be  good  or  evil, 
of  what  modifications  they  are  susceptible,  what  means. should  be 
used  to  modify  them,  are  questions  which  we  discuss  in  another  place. 

There  is,  however,  one  single  phenomenon  of  such  vast  importance, 
and  so  closely  connected  with  our  subject,  that  it  may  properly  bo 
alluded  to  in  this  place.  This  is  the  suicidal  political  action  of  nat 
uralized  immigrants.  Whatever  may  be  the  object  of  foreigners  en 
tering  our  country,  and  our  nation — whether  they  come  for  peace,  for 
freedom,  or  for  wealth — it  is  beneath  the  protection  of  our  national 
ity,  our  Constitution,  and  our  laws,  that  they  seek  that  object.  The 
whole  fabric  of  that  Constitution  and  those  laws  was  erected,  and  has 
been  and  is  maintained  by  free  political  action,  by  the  intelligent 
voice  of  our  people,  appointing  what  they  thought  good.  The  laws 
so  established  and  sustained  have  raised  us  to  a  position  of  such 
strength  and  wealth,  that  we  are  able  to  offer  an  asylum  to  the  op 
pressed  of  all  nations.  This  has  been  freely  accepted,  and  accepted 
in  the  majority  of  cases,  until  lately,  with  thankful  hearts,  and  a  pro 
per  acquiescence  in  the  established  institutions  of  the  laud. 

But,  within  a  few  years,  an  ominous  change  in  the  demeanor  of 
our  foreign  beneficiaries  has  appeared.  They  seem  to  be  steadily 
seeking  to  overthrow  our  own  institutions,  whenever  those  institutions 
happen  to  conflict  with  the  prejudices  or  hatreds  engendered  in  their 
own  minds  in  the  darkness  of  their  native  despotisms.  The  wise 
Sabbath  laws  which  are  so  general  in  our  commonwealths,  are  a 


290  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

living  evidence  of  the  intimate  connection  of  Christianity  with  their 
fundamental  policy.  That  connection  is  the  very  basis  of  their 
strength  and  durability.  But  a  band  of  atheistical  Germans,  think 
ing  that  in  this  country  there  is  no  need,  even  outwardly,  either  to 
fear  God  or  to  regard  man,  get  together  and  call  upon,  the  govern 
ment  to  abrogate  all  laws  enforcing  the  observance  of  the  Christian 
jSabbath. 

Our  established,  wise,  and  unsectarian  mode  of  distributing  State 
money  to  public  schools,  without  regard  to  any  religious  denomina 
tion,  is  a  great  obstacle  to  the  Jesuitical  views  of  foreign  priests,  who 
desire  to  control  the  education  of  native  youth,  and  unsuspectedly  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  complete  supremacy  of  the  Romish  Church 
over  our  free  State.  All  the  open  and  secret  arts  of  the  most  in 
triguing  class  of  men  in  the  world  are  set  in  motion  to  secure  the 
discontinuance  of  this  practice,  and  to  effect  the  distribution  of  pub 
lic  money  to  schools  distinctly  Romanist,  for  uses  wholly  sectarian, 
anti-republican,  and  anti-American. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into  any  extended  exposition  of  the 
necessary  tendencies  and  results  of  such  conduct.  But  the  broad 
fact  stands  plainly  out,  that  the  masses  of  our  foreign  population  are 
determined  to  move  steadily  forward  in  a  line  of  their  own,  without 
regard  to  the  laws  or  feelings  of  the  people  who  have  sheltered  them. 
Armed  rebellion  or  secret  plot — bribery  or  bullying — all  modes  of 
action  or  coercion,  however  wicked,  or  unconstitutional,  are  to  be 
unscrupulously  seized  and  remorselessly  wielded,  to  complete  their 
foolish  and  disorganizing  purposes.  This  suicidal  and  unaccounta 
ble  course  of  conduct,  if  allowed  to  be  carried  through,  will  sink  the 
vessel  that  carries  themselves  and  their  fortunes.  It  is  the  sense 
less  fury  of  the  maniac  who  attacks  his  best  friend  with  the  same 
tiger-like  ferocity  which  he  displays  to  his  worst  enemy.  It  would 
necessarily  terminate  our  present  glorious  and  happy  era  of  consti 
tutional  law.  It  would  substitute  for  it  one  of  two  things — either 
an  utter  anarchy,  such  as  they  have  striven  to  create  at  home,  or  a 
centralized  despotism,  which  they  have  escaped  by  fleeing  hither. 


THE  CITIZEN  OF  A  REPUBLIC. 


•  The  elements 


So  mix'd  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world,  "This  was  a  man." 

SHAKESPEARE. 

REPUBLICANISM,  the  noblest  form  of  earthly  government,  demands 
the  exertion  of  the  highest  moral"  and  intellectual  faculties  of  man. 

The  establishment  of  a  Republic  is  a  work  of  comparatively  easy 
accomplishment,  its  maintenance  is  a  struggle  of  immense  magnitude : 
the  former  requires  but  the  hand  of  a  warrior  or  legislator ;  the  latter 
necessitates  the  heart  and  arm  of  the  entire  people.  Autocracy  may 
flourish  with  a  nation  sunk  in  ignorance  and  slavery ;  Monarchy 
fearlessl^surrenders  the  destinies  of  an  empire  to  the  guidance  of  a 
few  ;  but  Democracy  is  the  vox  populi,  vox  Dei,  and  only  acts  when 
every  citizen  has  spoken. 

As  FEAR  is  the  controlling  principle  of  Despotism — HONOR  of  a 
Monarchy, — so  VIRTUE  is  the  mainspring,  the  life-blood  of  a  Republic. 
This  vital  principle  of  democracy  is  the  individual  influence  of  each 
citizen  upon  public  affairs :  it  is  not  the  mere  exercise  of  political 
power,  but  the  every-day  walk  and  conversation  of  one  whose  ex 
ample  causes  others  to  do  well ;  for,  "  No  deed  of  a  good  citizen  is 
useless ;  for  even  by  his  attention,  his  appearance,  his  nod,  his  silence, 
or  his  step,  he  may  avail  something." 

This  political  virtue,  so  necessary  to  a  good  citizen,  and  without 
which  no  republic  can  long  exist,  includes  patriotism,  integrity,  and 
self-denial.  In  proportion  as  these  principles  influence  a  democracy, 
the  commonwealth  is  prosperous ;  but  when  they  are  forgotten,  the 


292  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

State  becomes  a  prey  to  selfish  passions,  party  feuds,  and  civil  com 
motion,  and  is  fast  travelling  the  road  to  anarchy  and  despotism. 

Patriotism  is  not  the  mere  love  of  country,  nor  its  object  the  tinsel 
of  present  glory.  Far  nobler  are  its  aims,  for  its  visions  are  prospec 
tive,  and  its  aspirations  invoke  the  future.  The  patriot  lives  not  for 
himself,  but  for  posterity;  he  works  not  to  aggrandize,  but  to  establish; 
he  sacrifices  the  chances  of  success,  if  trammelled  by  the  possibility 
of  failure.  He  gives  "  his  hand  and  his  heart"  to  the  defence  of  the 
republic,  without  regard  to  ties  of  blood  or  kindred,  and  never  lends 
his  countenance  to  any,  who,  through  ignorance  or  passion,  propose 
measures  at  variance  with  freedom,  or  inimical  to  the  peace  of  the 
country.  He  is  the  uncompromising  foe  of  demagogues. 

"  An  honest  man's  the  noblest  work  of  God."  Where  shall  we 
find  a  better  illustration  of  this  maxim,  than  in  the  citizen  of  a  Re 
public  ?  Clothing  himself  in  integrity,  he  cares  not  if  rulers  threaten 
or  the  masses  rage ;  emulating  the  virtue  of  an  Aristides  or  a  Cato, 
neither  the  eulogies  of  the  multitude,  the  charms  of  popularity, 
the  threats  of  enemies,  nor  the  entreaties  of  friends  can  move  his 
decision.  His  first,  his  only  thought,  is  for  his  country :  personal 
motives  cannot  sway  him ;  patriotism  has  told  him  how  to  act,  no 
consideration  can  induce  the  contrary.  He  refuses  the  emoluments 
of  office  as  an  inducement  to  venality ;  titles  and  honors  he  scorns, 
for  he  looks  not  to  outward  applause,  but  to  inward  satisfaction.  His 
aim  is,  his  country :  his  motto — Incorruptible. 

"  Luxury  is  the  death  of  a  Republic.""*  This  vice  is  utterly  op 
posed  to  the  spirit  of  democracy,  for  it  is  the  deification  of  self,  and 
forgetfulness  of  the  general  good.  The  Carthaginians,  unconquered 
by  the  Romans,  fell  before  the  luxuries  of  Capua.  Athens  flourished 
when  wealth  increased  and  manners  remained  virtuous ;  but  the 
Republic  of  Solon,  Aristides,  and  Plato,  fell,  when  her  citizens 
sought  their  individual  pleasures,  and  forgot  their  duty  to  the 
State.  Not  the  immortal  eloquence  of  a  Demosthenes,  nor  the 
terrors  of  Philip  at  her  gates,  could  relight  the  flame  of  patriot- 

*  Montesquieu. 


THE   CITIZEN   OF   A   REPUBLIC. 

ism,  which  had  shone  so  triumphantly  at  Salamis  and  Marathon. 
Athens,  the  beautiful,  the  glorious,  the  mother  of  the  arts  and 
literature,  the  soul  of  that  Greece  whose  fame  will  flourish  through 
admiring  ages ;  even  Athens,  adjudged  the  penalty  of  death  to  those 
of  her  citizens  who  proposed  devoting  the  moneys  of  the  theatres 
to  the  defence  of  the  Republic.  Rome,  the  republic  of  Brutus  and 
Cato — that  empire  which  has  given  the  world  the  brightest  examples 
of  patriotism,  integrity,  and  self-denial — fell  through  luxury.  As 
Demosthenes  in  Greece,  so  Cicero  in  Rome,  found  his  eloquence 
powerless  against  the  ambition,  the  selfish  passions  of  the  aristocracy. 
The  empire  of  the  Csesars  inaugurated  luxury,  and  the  masculine 
vigor  of  her  Horatii,  her  Codes,  and  her  Cincinnatus  forever  de 
parted.  Well  might  Tacitus  depict  the  energy,  the  sobriety,  the 
manliness  of  the  Germans,  and  describe  the  certain  fall  of  his  country, 
unless  she  returned  to  the  ancient  virtues  of  the  Republic.  Luxury 
had  destroyed  every  bond  of  sympathy  between  provinces  and  indi 
viduals,  and  Goths,  Visigoths,  Vandals,  and  Franks  only  completed 
what  the  Romans  themselves  had  begun. 

What  then  shall  we  say  to  those  of  our  countrymen,  who,  in  spite 
of  the  warnings  of  history,  the  testimony  of  philosophers,  the  antece 
dents  of  their  country,  nay,  of  their  allegiance  to  the  Republic,  are 
seeking  to  introduce  the  luxury  of  an  aristocracy  in  our  midst? 
What  means  this  aping  of  the  exclusiveness  of  courts,  this  creation  of 
a  factitious,  privileged  class  ?  Does  mere  wealth  confer  social  supre 
macy  ?  is  the  falsity  of  caste  consonant  with  the  truth  of  democracy  ? 
The  abhorred  relics  of  feudalism,  leading  America  t^ck  to  the  medi- 
seval  ages,  should  meet  with  the  undying  hate  of  the  true  citizen,  and 
their  partisans  should  be  consigned  to  universal  obloquy  and  reproach. 
Perish  forever  such  arch-treason  to  the  Republic,  for  our  existence  is 
only  possible  in  equality ! 

Luxury  is  not  necessarily  associated  with  trade  and  commerce :  a 
countiy  may  safely  foster  the  latter,  if  due  precaution  be  taken  to 
avoid  the  former.  The  mere  fact  of  becoming  rich,  will  not  affect 
the  virtue  of  the  citizen,  if  he  still  view  as  a  principle  above  every  other 


294  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

consideration  the  well-being  of  the  community  at  large.  But,  when 
men  amass  large  fortunes,  and,  retiring  from  their  fellow-citizens  into 
a  species  of  luxurious  cliquism,  attempt  the  formation  of  an  upper  class 
in  the  midst  of  that  equality  without  which  democracy  is  an  impos 
sibility,  the  aegis  of  patriotism  must  be  raised  against  the  treason,  and 
hydra-headed  oligarchism  be  met  with  that  hostility  which  can  alone 
insure  the  safety  of  the  Republic.  The  true  citizen  purges  his  soul  of 
all  selfishness,  and  lives  and  labors  but  for  his  country. 

The  true,  the  only  check  to  luxury  is  in  religion,  education,  and 
public  opinion,  inducing  men  to  seek  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the 
country  rather  than  their  own  profit  and  interest,  more  especially 
when  these  two  are  in  opposition.  Memorable  are  such  examples  in 
all  ages,  and  bright  the  instances  in  our  own  history.  It  is  disinter 
estedness  which  gives  the  superiority  to  republicanism  over  every 
other  government ;  only  in  republicanism  does  this  self-denial  exist, 
for  there  alone  is  it  possible.  The  object  of  all  religion,  whether  true 
or  false,  is  to  govern  human  passions,  to  mould  the  human  will. 
Armed  with  the  authority  of  its  divine  origin,  its  province  is  to  sub 
due  human  nature — finding  mankind  in  a  state  of  warfare,  it  seeks  to 
harmonize  the  discordant  elements  and  bless  the  world  with  peace. 
Society,  the  association  of  man  with  his  fellow-man,  is  the  offspring  «f 
religion. 

Education  inculcates  the  laws  of  this  association,  those  checks  which 
society  has  imposed  for  its  own  safety.  Religion  must,  therefore,  be 
a  necessary  part  of  all  education,  since  man's  passions  are  as  inimical 
to  the  peace  of  |jie  State,  as  they  are  hurtful  to  his  own  happiness. 

But  religion  and  education  are  insufficient  to  perpetuate  unity, 
peace,  and  concord.  History  gives  many  instances  of  agitators,  honest, 
but  misguided  in  their  intentions :  such  can  only  be  withstood  by  the 
force  of  public  opinion.  All  attempts,  therefore,  to  control  this  free 
expression  are  hurtful  to  the  freedom  of  a  country.  The  citizen  must 
avail  himself  of  this  power,  whenever  the  national  liberties  are  assail 
ed  ;  his  animadversions  upon  agitators  and  their  measures  are  the 
power  of  VETO,  exerted  in  right  of  his  sovereignty.  When  the  citizen 


THE   CITIZEN   OF   A   REPUBLIC.  295 

comes  in  collision  with  such,  he  must  freely  upbraid  their  fickleness 
and  expose  the  fallacies  of  their  opinions ;  nor  will  he  be  intimidated 
from  boldly  lifting  up  his  voice  against  all  rash  or  perilous  public 
measures,  no  matter  how  much  odium  he  may  incur,  nor  how  many 
outrages  he  may  have  to  face.  "  Neither  the  depraved  fury  of  a 
threatening  populace,  nor  the  frown  of  an  angry  tyrant,  can  move 
the  firm  purpose  of  a  just  man,  who  is  established  in  his  opinions." 

The  citizen  should  beware  of  all  those  measures  which  beget  divi 
sions  in  free  States,  and  endanger  harmony  and  prosperity.  He  must 
be  in  continual  remembrance  that  he  is  a  freeman,  and  scorn  to  ally 
himself  with  any  who  have  not  proved  themselves  firm  friends  of  the 
Republic,  or  shown  themselves  unwavering  supporters  of  the  Consti 
tution.  Despising  factious  opposition,  he  will  yield  on  minor  points, 
so  as  not  to  refuse  his  aid  to  the  par.ty  which,  in  essentials,  is  clearly 
in  the  right.  Socrates  was  explicit  on  this  subject:  "The  citizen 
should  endeavor  to  persuade  his  countrymen  of  the  views  he  cherishes 
himself,  if  he  can;  but,  if  this  be. impossible,  let  him  follow  their  com 
mands."  The  very  perpetuity  of  a  Republic  depends  upon  the  con 
cord  of  those  in  whom  the  legislative  power  is  vested. 

The  citizen  will  submit  himself  unreservedly  to  the  magistrates. 
"  To  show  honor  to  others  is  often  more  praiseworthy  than  to  'be 
honored  one's  self:"  he  will  recognize  the  power  of t  the  common 
wealth  in  the  ministration  of  the  judge  ;  and,  so  far  from  withholding 
obedience,  he  will  esteem  it  an  honor  to  obey.  Nor  should  this  rev 
erence  be  paid  from  regard  merely  to  the  office,  but,  if  possible, 
through  esteem  for  the  excellence  of  personal  virtue,  which  has  ele 
vated  the  magistrate  to  povrer.  Therefore,  should  the  magistrate  be 
wise  and  virtuous  in  order  to  be  reverently  obeyed.  "Obedience 
prepares  men  for  empire." 

There  are  certain  acquirements  which  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citi 
zen  to  possess.  Such  is  a  knowledge  of  history,  for  by  this  he  learns 
the  dangers  through  which  his  own  and  other  countries  have  passed, 
and  observes  how  certain  policies  inevitably  lead  to  certain  results. 
From  history,  he  finds  examples  of  the  good  and  great  in  all  ages,  for- 


296  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

tifies  his  soul  with  their  virtues,  and  leaves  their  memory  "a  rich  leg 
acy  unto  his  children."  Most  especially  should  he  apply  himself  to 
the  study  of  the  resources  of  the  Republic  ;  acquiring  every  detail 
relative  to  her  agriculture,  manufacture,  and  commerce — the  capabili 
ties  and  deficiencies  of  the  State — her  relations  with  foreign  powers, 
the  numbers  of  the  people,  and  the  popular  feeling  on  public  sub 
jects. 

These  acquirements  the  citizen  will  find  indispensable,  since  other 
wise  he  cannot  .legislate  in  the  general  good:  he  must  reflect  that 
when  the  Senate  assembles,  he.  is  responsible  for  their  decrees.  Armed 
with  these  acquirements,  he  will  be  enabled  to  select  those  who  are 
most  capable  of  legislating  beneficially,  and  will  be  prepared  at  all 
times  to  meet  and  controvert  the  designs  and  sophistries  of  traitors 
and  agitators.  There  is  no  higher  glory  on  earth  than  in  a  citizen 
faithfully  serving  his  country :  in  the  eloquent  language  of  Cicero, 
"Of  all  things  human,  there  is  nothing  more  glorious  or  more'  excel 
lent  than  to  deserve  well  of  the  Republic." 

"The  acquisition  of  honors  is  to  be  esteemed  praiseworthy,"  yet 
should  offices  not  be  sought  for,  nor  refused,  unless  they  exceed  the 
citizen's  merit,  lie  must  not  disdain  companionship  and  counsel  in 
them,  nor  fall  into  the  mistake  that  his  duty  to  the  country  is  dis 
charged  when,  his  term  of  office  expires.  Aristides  and  the  Roman 
Cato  were  seldom  in  office,  yet  their  republican  virtues  ceaselessly  in 
fluenced  the  citizens. 

Self-denial  is  the  highest  effort  of  moral  courage.  The  citizen  is 
as  likely  to  err  in  false  modesty,  as  in  following  the.  dictates  of  ambi 
tion.  He  should,  therefore,  accurately  woigh  the  advantages  whick 
may  accrue  to  the  State  by  his  accepting  office,  and  no  consideration 
of  self-interest  should  induce  him  to  refuse  that  which  his  country 
men  require  him  to  assume.  In  this  respect,  he  will  model  himself 
upon  the  examples  of  Cincinnatus,  Brutus,  and  Washington — heroes, 
who  lived  but  for  their  country — in  whose  breasts  ambition  found  no 
place — men  who  on  their  brows  bore  the  proud  boast  of  the  Roman 
orator — "Mcns  ronscia  rccti" 


THE   CITIZEN   OF   A  KEPUBLIC.  297 

How  shall  we  sufficiently  reprehend  the  conduct  of  those  of  our 
countrymen  who  forget  the  glorious  traditions  of  their  native  land, 
and  become  courtiers  in  foreign  climes  ?  Ansaldo  Ceba,  the  illustri 
ous  citizen  of  the  Genoese  republic,  observes :  "  With  foreign  princes 
we  think  the  citizen  will  be  wise  not  to  cultivate  much  intimacy. 
When  he  happens  to  meet  them,  he  should  certainly  show  them  all 
honor,  by  signs  of  respect  and  reverence ;  but  this  should  suffice. 
Nor  should  he  hold  any  other  language  with  them,  than  courtesy  or 
necessity  may  require.  But,  at  the  same  time,  if  accident  bring 
them  together,  or  he  be  in  any  manner  provoked  by  them,  let  him 
with  noble  resentment  give  such  gentlemen  to  understand,  that  his 
republic  loves  liberty,  and  that  he  is  ready  to  offer  his  property  and 
his  life  to  preserve  it." 

Far  different  is  the  conduct  of  many  of  our  countrymen,  when 
surrounded  by  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  kings  and  aristo 
crats.  Unmindful  of  their  antecedents  and  the  precious  reminiscences 
of  their  distant  land ;  ignoring  the  slight  which  they  are  thus  casting 
on  the  republic ;  unobservant  of  the  obloquy  which  the  titled  valets 
of  Europe  rejoice  to  cast  on  democracy,  when  Americans  are  thus 
seen  worshipping  that  system  which  their  ancestors  fought  and  bled 
to  throw  off, — these  republican-trained  courtiers,  these  bourgeois- 
gentilshommes  and  Potiphars,  bedeck  themselves  in  the  livery  of  mo 
narchical  servitude,  and,  like  Themistocles  at  Persi-a,  almost  turn 
traitors  to  their  country,  quickly  losing  even  the  appearance  of  repub 
lican  virtue.  Returning  to  their  native  land,  they  retain  and  move  in 
a  European  atmosphere.  Claiming  the  friendship  or  acquaintance 
of  this  or  that  noble  lackey  or  aristocratic  debauchee,  they  affect  an 
air  of  superiority,  establish  in  their  salons  the  etiquette  of  courts,  and 
smile  with  ineffable  contempt  on  democratic  institutions.  Our  paint 
ings  and  sculptures  are  false  to  art,  because,  forsooth,  these  travelled 
coxcombs  have  lounged  in  the  shadow  of  the  Louvre,  or  played  the 
minion  at  Florence.  Music  has  lost  its  charms,  since  here  it  is  obtain 
able  by  all.  Our  literature  may  possibly  be  tolerated,  but  it  becomes 
secondary  to  the  productions  of  other  people.  America  is  voted  vul- 


298  A  VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

gar  by  her  own  children,  and  the  horrible  putrescence  of  European,, 
decay  is  inoculated  into  our  democratic  system. 

Not  so  acted  the-  first  envoys  of  this  Republic.  In  refusing  court 
to  monarchs,  they  gained  respect  for  themselves  and  alliance  for  their 
country.  In  the  utmost  simplicity  of  dress  and  manner,  they  de 
manded  and  obtained  more  true  esteem  than  the  proudest  nobles  of 
Europe — and  left  behind  them  the  memory  of  their  simple  virtues, 
which  our  modern  diplomats  seem  careful  not  to  copy. 

Americans !  will  you  thus  deny  your  birthright,  defame  the  mem 
ory  of  your  fathers,  and  inspire  contempt  for  their  country  in  the 
hearts  of  your  children  ?  Oh,  distant,  immeasurably  distant,  be  the 
day  when  such  principles  shall  become  general !  Where  is  the  divine 
afflatus  of  those  heroes,  who,  inspired  by  universal  democracy,  rose 
majestically  with  the  people,  and  towered,  giant  like,  amidst  their 
aristocratic  foes  ?  Where  are  Franklin  and  Adams — meteors,  flash 
ing  across  the  blackness  of  European  diplomacy?  Where  those 
ancient  senators,  whose  eloquence,  echoing  through  the  forum,  found 
emphasis  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  ?  Where  those  citizens,  who 
loved  the  Republic  above  property,  family,  yea,  life  itself;  whom  agi 
tators  dared  not  use — before  whose  inflexible  honesty,  demagogues 
feared  and  trembled? 

We  must  recall  the  ancient  days.  We  must  return  to  first  prin 
ciples,  and  study  models  of  former  years.  Our  children  must  be 
prepared  with  more  than  Spartan  care,  and  taught  how  bright  and 
glorious  is  their  inheritance, — how  hollow  the  joys  which  are  but  the 
gratification  of  the  senses.  The  standard  of  republican  virtue  must 
everywhere  be  raised — selfishness  be  uprooted  from  every  spirit — pat 
riotism  no  longer  remain  a  high-sounding  name ;  but  the  maxim  be 
written  in  every  breast — My  country,  everywhere  and  at  all  times, — 
the  Republic,  one  and  indivisible, — America,  above  all  things. 


AMERICAN   NATIONALITY. 

"  It  is  true  vre  should  become  a  little  more  Americanized." — GENERAL  JACKSON. 

THE  national  characters  of  the  leading  nations  of  the  world  are 
clearly  defined  and  understood.  The  sturdy,  thoughtful,  grumbling 
Englishman — the  lively,  fickle  Frenchman — the  proud  and  grave 
Spaniard — the  reflective  and  metaphysical  German,  are  as  well  dis 
tinguished  by  these  titles,  as  the  Indian,  the  Arab,  and  the  European 
by  their  complexions. 

This  nationality  is  stamped  on  the  individuals  of  the  nation  and 
on  its  policy.  As  are  the  inhabitants,  so  are  their  rulers  and  their 
measures ;  and  the  home  and  foreign  operations  of  the  government 
usually  take  more  or  less  shape  from  the  character  of  the  people  who 
support  them. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  a  distinct  individual  nationality.  The 
leading  characteristic  of  the  Anglo-American  is  energy :  he  is  the 
energetic  American.  His  energy  is  not  only  continuous  in  operation, 
but  wise  in  its  aim ;  his  enterprises,  whatever  they  be,  are  admirably 
contrived,  energetically  commenced,  obstinately  adhered  to,  and  per- 
severingly  supported. 

There  are  other  qualities  Avhich  assist  in  forming  our  national  char 
acter.  Of  these  we  need  only  enumerate, — first,  shrewdness  in  busi 
ness,  enterprise,  and  skill ;  the  results  of  which,  surpassing  the  slow 
business  methods  of  the  Old  World,  lead  strangers  to  stigmatize  us 
as  mere  money-getters  and  speculators.  Secondly,  romance  and 
ideality,  which  are  not  merely  evinced  in  our  literary  pursuits,  but 
have  given  impetus  to  the  actions  of  our  citizens  to  no  inconsiderable 
extent.  A  sentiment  of  romantic  enterprise  has,  from  the  first,  deeply 


300  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

imbued  the  minds  of  our  people,  especially  those  pioneers  of  civiliza 
tion — the  hunter  and  backwoodsman  of  the  West.  Thirdly,  hope. 
Other  nations  may  glory  in  the  Past,  but  we  are  the  people  of  the 
Future.  To  futurity  we  look,  and  as  time  unfolds  the  mysteries  of  promise, 
surrounding  countries  behold  with  astonishment  our  progress,  and  even 
we  ourselves  are  compelled  to  wonder. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  principal  characteristics  of  Americans.  Our 
nationality  is  distinct  and  strong,  but,  hitherto,  it  has  impressed  but 
little  of  itself  upon  the  policy  of  our  government. 

There  is  no  nation  of  any  considerable  importance  on  the  face  of 
the  earth,  that  has  not  its  own  distinctive  policy.  Circumstances  may 
give  that  policy  a  shape,  but  it  is  the  native  energy  of  the  nation  which 
gives  it  emphasis  before  the  world.  Great  Britain  has  her  policy, 
which  is  called  British,  and  France  has  long  entertained  her  own. 
The  policy  of  Russia  has  been  traditionary,  from  generation  to  gene 
ration.  Even  Austria  understands  the  significancy  of  the  term,  and 
puts  forth  her  policy  in  a  shape  which  puzzles  all  Europe's  diplomacy. 
The  policy  of  Germany  is  to  keep  aloof  from  a  war  which  threatens  to 
become  general.  Spain  is  sullenly  determined  not  to  loose  her  hold 
on  Cuba,  and  thus  her  policy  is  known. 

All  announce  their  public  purpose  but  America.  With  her,  the 
national  opinion  does  not  yet  seem  to  have  become  sufficiently  de 
fined  to  take  expression.  It  has  not  yet  so  strongly  centralized  its 
many  elements,  as  to  assume  a  name.  We  are  drifting  about  on  an 
open  sea,  without  national  compass  or  rudder.  Circumstances  alone 
define  the  national  character ;  a  predetermined  sentiment  neither 
governs  it,  nor  gives  it  shape.  We  exist  but  to  study  the  purposes  of 
other  nations,  having  none  to  contemplate  of  our  own.  A  great 
people,  we  are  unwilling  to  announce  ourselves  a  peculiar  nation.  In 
the  front  of  the  world  in  power,  we  are  yet  behind  all  others  in  a 
published  policy.  Fortune  seems  to  guide  us  unresistingly  on  her 
own  course,  while  we  merely  profit  by  the  temporary  and  irregular 
favor*  she  sees  fit  to  throw  in  our  way.  We  rather  thrive  by  the 
mistakes  of  others,  tlrm  by  nny  fixed  resolutions  of  our  own. 


AMERICAN    NATIONALITY.  301 

The  picture  is  none  too  broad  for  truth.  It  has  been  repeatedly 
drawn  by  the  course  of  our  rulers,  and  as  often  silently  acquiesced  in 
by  the  people.  The  popular  mind  has  long  been  so  wrongly  bent, 
that  the  question  has  come  to  be  seriously  debated,  whether  America 
shall  be  American,  or  shall  become  an  indescribable  fusion  of  all  the 
najjonalities  on  the  face  of  the  earth !  Designing  and  ambitious  men, 
whose  care  is  for  themselves  before  their  country,  declare  that  America 
is  for  the  world ;  -that  the  sentiment  of  an  enlarged  and  comprehensive 
liumanity  is  to  put  aside  and  replace  the  glowing  and  vitalizing  spirit 
of  nationality ;  that  while  other  countries  have  been  bigoted,  illiberal, 
or  tyrannical,  there  is  no  room  on  the  soil  of  America  for  sentiments 
like  these  to  flourish ;  and  that  we  are  to  announce  no  particular 
affection  for  our  country  simply  for  its  own  sake,  and  the  sake  of  our 
fellow-citizens,  but  to  consider  that  all  the  world  has  both  equal  rights 
and  equal  affections  here  with  ourselves. 

This  is  a  most  specious  and  hollow-hearted  doctrine.  It  would  give 
but  a  negative  character  to  any  country,  and  make  it  tlie  dupe  of 
despots,  and  the  football  of  the  nations.  It  implies  nothing  less  than 
a  complete  abnegation  of  individuality  for  a  State,  and  insists  on  the 
formation  of  a  composite  national  character  which  is  neither  one 
thing  nor  another.  They  who  advocate  it  with  such  ignorant  zeal, 
forget  that  its  foreign  beneficiaries  are  armed  -with  a  national  spirit 
that  refuses  through  life  to  be  dispossessed  of  its  position.  They  are 
insensible  to  the  truth  that  the  emigrants  who  amvejiere  never  give 
up  their  love  for  their  native  land,  and  are  never^  expected  to  make 
''e^-^^naturai^aTsacnfice ;  and  that  one  of  the  most  notable  provi 
sions  of  our  noble  Constitution,  forever  shutting  out  the  possibility 
of  a  naturalized  citizen's  reaching  the  Presidency,  was  an  honorable 
tribute,  on  the  part  of  its  framers,  to  a  sentiment  everywhere  to  be 
respected. 

It  is  a  false  and  baseless  plea,  that  if  America's  mission  is  for 
humanity,  it  cannot,  therefore,  sustain  a  separate  and  distinct  nation 
ality  of  its  own.  Except  through  an  individual  organization  of  all  its 
various  elements,  a  nation  cannot  in  the  first  place  enjoy  any  per- 

14 


302  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

V 

manent  existence ;  and  except,  again,  through  the  projectile  force  of 
that  separate  organism,  it  cannot  hope  to  make  the  influence  of 
its  existence  anywhere  perceived.  Without  energy,  no  nation  can 
even  keep  its  place  in  history.  There  must  needs  be  an  earnest  con 
centration  of  all  the  faith,  all  the  hopes,  all  the  affections,  and  all  the 
ambition  of  its  people  around  some  particular  objects,  or  the  nation 
falls  away  from  its  organic  strength,  and  the  desires  and  hopes  of 
humanity  must  turn  elsewhere  for  their  realization.  From  a  truth  so 
apparent  there  is  no  possible  escape.  That  nation  only  is  the  truest  to 
humanity  at  large,  which  never  forgets  to  be  true  to  both  liberty  and 
humanity  in  itself.  It  may  not  go  abroad  in  search  of  objects  for 
its  beneficence,  until  it  has  first  acquired  for  its  own  people  the  power 
to  bestow  the  coveted  blessing. 

In  the  conflict  of  parties,  and  confusion  of  tongues  of  this  present 
time,  there  comes  to  the  ear  one  voice,  louder  than  all  others.  It 
speaks  with  an  emphasis,  and  a  meaning  that  is  unmistakable.  Every 
syllable  promises  the  inauguration  of  a  new  era.  Every  word  inspirits 
our  faltering  hopes.  It  seems  undeniable  that  the  period  has  arrived 
in  our  history,  when  we  are  to  make  a  stand  for  a  character  and  a 
policy  that  shall  be  entirely  American.  It  is  indeed  a  happy  omen, 
and  we  hail  it  as  we  daily  hail  the  glorious  advent  of  the  mornino- 
sun.  The  national  mind  is  fully  awake.  The  popular  heart  beats 
high  and  healthily.  Patriotism  rouses  itself  from  its  long  sleep  of 
forgetful  ness,  and  liberty  once  more  smiles  serenely  on  her  votaries. 

This  sudden  uprising  of  the  popular  sentiment,  strikes  vigorous 
blows  at  the  slothful  inefficiency  of  character,  which  our  country  has 
succumbed  to,  under  the  long-continued  lead  of  partisan  administra 
tions.  It  insists  on  the  establishment  and  perpetuation  of  a  spirit  of 
true  nationality,  above  the  reach  of  political  factions  and  juntos,  and 
removed  from  the  influence  of  either  fawning  or  flattery.  Something 
like  this  was  certainly  needed.  America  was  rapidly  becoming  a 
mark  for  the  opposition  and  intrigues  of  other  nations,  rather  than  the 
steady  director  of  an  imposing  and  self-sustaining  power  of  her  own. 
Her  liberality  was  fast  degenerating  into  a  patient  and  good-natured 


AMERICAN   XATIOXALITY.  303 

sufferance  of'  all  evils,  instead  of  asserting  that  inherent  force  of  resist 
ance,  which  at  the  very  first  lifted  her  to  rank  among  the  nations. 
Her  generosity  was  relapsing  into  a  disease,  whose  ulcerous  spread 
threatened  the  final  health  of  the  entire  body  politic. 

Under  these  circumstances,  any  movement  on  the  part  of  the  peo 
ple  to  destroy  and  put  out  of  sight  the  effete  existence  of  a  corrupt 
ing  partisanship,  is  one  which  appeals  with  an  eloquent  tongue  to  the 
heart  of  the  nation.  It  must  command  the  profoundest  attention,  and 
excite  the  deepest  sensibilities  of  those  whose  desires  are  patriotic. 
The  sentiment  of  nationality  demands,  at  this  juncture,  a  more  strenu 
ous  advocacy  than  it  has  ever  received  since  the  days  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  There  exists  an  urgent  need  for  impressing  it  on  the  hearts  of 
the  whole  people.  This  day  must  we  assert  an  American  origin,  an 
American  spirit,  and  an  American  policy,  or  the  opportunity  may  be 
gone  forever. 

In  the  first  place,  we  cannot  treasure  too  carefully  all  those  peculiar 
features  whether  of  character,  custom,  or  opinions,  that  are  so  distinc 
tively  our  own.  That  which  lies  around  us,  we  ought  to  incorporate 
into  our  being,  so  that  it  may  do  its  natural  work.  Even  our  various 
idiosyncracies  of  national  character  are  worth  preservation,  if  only 
because  they  are  American.  The  recollection, of  them,  may  some  day 
suddenly  fire  a  train  of  patriotic  impulses,  which  will  terminate  in  the 
most  noble  deeds. 

But,  above  all,  our  opinions  should  receive  the  tincture  of  a  truly 
national  tone.  They  should  all  tacitly  refer  to  the  existence  of  a 
country,  whose  grand  characteristics  we  each  c*f  us  seek  to  reflect. 
An  Englishman  will  remain  an  Englishman  as  long  as  he  lives ;  and 
not  more  in  his  habits  than  in  his  expressed  opinions.  France,  and 
her  glory,  is  the  touchstone  to  which  Frenchmen  undeviatingly  apply 
their  thoughts ;  and  these  give  it  a  shape  and  color  that  characterize 
it  all  over  the  world.  So  it  is  with  the  people  of  other  countries  uni 
versally.  No  matter  how  the  national  sentiment  first  took  form ;  it 
exists,  and  works  by  a  process  as  secret  as  it  is  difficult  of  analysis. 
And  so  it  should  be  with  ourselves.  A  true  American  cannot  c6n- 


301  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

sistently  bold  similar  political  opinions  with,  an  Englishman  ;  nor 
ought  ho  at  any  time  to  entertain  the  idle  hope  of  bringing  about 
their  reconciliation.  Between  liberty  and  any  form  or  degree  of  ab 
solutism,  there  is  fixed  an  impassable  gulf.  It  must  remain  so  for 
ever. 

If  the  American's  opinions  borrow  their  tone  from  the  institutions 
of  his  country,  they  will  be  large,  generous,  and  comprehensive,  while 
they  lose  none  of  that  local  spirit  which  should  give  them  both  life 
and  energy.  They  will  stand  as  the  representatives  of  humanity  every 
where,  yet  never  put  off  the  national  vestments  in  which  they  are 
clothed.  They  may  belong  to  the  world,  and  still  remain  rooted  in 
American  soil.  They  may  strike  boldly  for  universal  liberty,  and 
still  consecrate  themselves  to  the  welfare  of  that  particular  country 
whose  existence  they  represent.  In  all  respects  they  will  be  original 
and  peculiar,  free  from  the  taint  of  old  political  systems,  and  clear  of 
alliance  with  tyrannies  and  despotisms. 

In  estimating  the  true  extent  of  such  a  national  feeling  upon  the  basis 
of  the  records  of  our  more  recent  political  history,  the  results  at  which 
we  are  forced  to  arrive  are  almost  too  astonishing  for  belief.  If  it  be 
seriously  inquired  whether  there  is  any  real  need  of  reviving  the  sen 
timent  of  nationality,  our  only  reply  is — "  Come  and  see !"  And 
what  do  we  see?  A  people  patiently  submitting  to  the  control  of 
men,  who,  long  ago,  have  stink  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  in  the 
slough  of  partyism  ;  rulers  ambitious  always  for  themselves,  but  rarely 
for  their  country ;  the  government  kept  artfully  in  the  hands  of  those 
whose  sworn  iidelity  to  political  cabals  and  factions  outweighs  the 
thought  of  duty  to  that  land,  within  whose  limits  all  parties  and  all 
opinions  are  tolerated  ;  public  men  holding  high  offices  of  trust  from 
the  people,  abusing  their  trust  without  a  blush  of  shame,  and  con 
verting  the  administration  of  government  into  a  game  of  chance,  in 
which  the  players  are  incited  by  passion,  by  unworthy  ambition, 
by  lust  for  individual  power,  and  even  by  malice  and  revenge ;  the 
wishes  of  the  people  forgotten  and  neglected ;  the  hopes  of  the  na 
tion  unnoticed,  and  the  name  of  America  receding  from  that  height 


AMERICAN   NATIONALITY.    »  305 

of  influence  to  which  it  once  attained,  and  losing  the  bright  lustre 
which  once  radiated  in  every  direction  over  the  civilized  world. 

Our  politics  have  degenerated  into  quibbles  and  personal  quarrels. 
Exalted  motives  do  not  enter  as  an  element  into  their  direction.  The 
country  has  fallen  a  long  way  behind  the  party  in  the  race.  Indivi 
dual  success  is  paramount  to  the  general  welfare.  The  triumph  of  a 
faction,  through  the  election  of  its  candidates,  is  considered  before  the 
glory  of  the  nation.  Measures  receive  their  full  share  of  discussion, 
but  the  great  principles  of  national  existence  never.  The  future 
seems  to  be  unregarded,  and  the  past  is  wholly  -blotted  out.  It  has 
come  to  be  supposed,  that  public  men  may  be  never  so  selfish,  never 
so  destitute  of  any  great  national  idea  with  which  to  inspire  their 
conduct,  and  never  so  devoted  to  the  single  interests  of  the  political 
organization  to  which  they  have  promised  allegiance, — and  still  the 
nation  will  take  abundant  care  of  itself.  Under  a  popular  form  of 
government  it  cannot  be  so :  a  deep  and  strong  national  sentiment 
must  correct,  combine,  and  subordinate  all  other  sentiments,  or  it  will 
inevitably  fall  back  into  a  secondary  position,  to  be  shaped  and  con 
trolled  by  them.  There  is  no  help  against  so  serious  a  catastrophe. 

We  need  but  to  become  attentive  observers,  to  discover  that  there 
is  such  a  national  sentiment  in  the  breasts  of  Americans,  God-given 
with  their  existence.  But  it  is,  as  yet.  hardly  more  than  the  germ  of 
what  should  long  ago  have  exhibited  the  proportions  of  a  vigorous 
plant.  It  is  scarcely  more  than  the  love  of  home,  with  the  untold 
associations  that  cluster  about  its  name.  It  exists,  but  it  needs  cul 
ture.  It  must  be  drawn  out,  developed,  strengthened,  and  healthily 
matured.  Hitherto,  opportunities  have  not  been  offered.  Circum 
stances  have  been  extremely  unpropitious.  The  sentiment  has  broken 
its  strength  upon  objects  unworthy  of  its  attachment,  and  been  fawned 
upon  by  sycophants  to  whom  patriotism  is  a  forgotten  word.  It  has 
been  addressed  by  politicians  who  failed  to  comprehend  its  character, 
and  basely  deluded  by  the  appeals  of  those  who  sought  its  aid  for 
mean  and  unholy  ends. 

But,  distorted  and  misused  as  it   has  been,  it  still  maintains  its 


306  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

inherent  vigor  and  virtue.  Its  surface  has  been  sullied,  but  with 
time  the  taint  will  wear  away.  The  original  sentiment  remains 
intact.  As  we  remarked  before,  it  needs  only  more  propitious  circum 
stances  and  influences  to  give  it  character  and  defiuiteness.  Such 
names  as  Jackson  and  Clay  possess  the  power  to  draw  it  out  into 
expression,  because  no  men  have  lived  who  were  more  American 
than  they.  They  knew  no  country  save  their  own.  They  were  of 
ourselves, — the  natives  of  our  own  soil, — fresh,  large,  and  original ; 
and  to  such  men  the  American  heart  will  instinctively  attach  itself, 
because,  in  their  very  persons  they  worthily  represent  our  country  and 
its  noble  institutions.  This  impulsive  attachment,  therefore,  betrays 
the  existence  of  the  national  sentiment,  and  tells  too  plainly  what  is 
required  to  impart  to  it  energy  of  action. 

When  this  great  national  idea  takes  complete  possession  of  a 
people,  rooting  itself  so  deeply  in  their  hearts  as  to  defy  dislodgment, 
it  will  not  brook  even  the  most  trifling  opposition  on  its  own  soil.  It 
is  a  power  dwelling  with  the  masses,  that  cannot  be  provoked  or 
insulted  with  impunity.  It  claims  an  imperial  sway,  and  exacts  the 
deference  demanded  by  despotism.  Nothing  is  so  large  that  it  can 
not  embrace  it ;  nothing  so  trifling  that  it  cannot  invest  with  undying 
glory.  It  stands  for  its  own  right,  and  feels  itself  strong  enough  to 
be  secure.  Those  who  underrate  its  consequence,  must  fall  beneath 
its  power  ;  those  who  seek  to  bring  it  into  contempt,  shall  themselves 
one  day  be  held  up  to  universal  scorn  and  detestation. 

It  has  been  claimed  that,  as  we  cannot  expect  our  foreign  popula 
tion  to  forget  the  ties  that  hold  them  to  their  native  land,  and  to 
enter  into  close  relationship  with  a  sentiment  for  which  they  possess 
no  qualifications,  we  ought  therefore  so  far  to  submit  to  a  modifica 
tion  of  our  national  preferences  as  to  accommodate  ourselves  to  their 
unfortunate  situation.  This  is  the  doctrine,  though  it  is  not,  perhaps, 
quite  so  plainly  announced.  But,  by  what  authority  are  we  bidden 
to  put  off  our  own  nationality,  and  go  peddling  it  about  to  aliens, 
strangers,  or  outcasts?  AVho  commands  us  to  exchange  the  im 
mortal  memories  of  Bunker  Hill,  of  Trenton,  of  Saratoga,  and  of 


AMERICAN  NATIONALITY.  307 

Yorktown,  for  the  mess  of  pottage  which  they  bring  from  other 
shores  ?  What  power  is  it  that  dares  to  exercise  such  authority — ;but 
the  shameless  and  irresponsible  power  of  party,  that  forgets  country, 
that  forgets  all  things,  save  only  its  own  selfish  success  ?  ^ 

Our  foreign  population,  as  a  body,  were  never  induced  to  come  to 
American  shores  from  the  simple  love  of  liberty,  or  its  institutions. 
It  is  no  deep  attachment  to  us,  or  our  principles,  or  to  the  spirit  and 
genius  of  our  government,  that  brings  them  here.  They  can  confess 
to  but  one  motive ;  and  that,  the  hope  of  bettering  their  fortunes. 
They  come  to  receive  more  money  for  their  labor,  to  provide  more 
liberally  for  the  necessities  of  their  families,  to  hoard  wealth,  and  to 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  tyranny. 

And  is  it  not  enough,  then,  that  America  offers  them  the  free 
enjoyment  of  all  these  privileges  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that  each  family 
may  have  a  farm  in  the  heart  of  our  rich  domains,  on  the  simple  con 
dition  of  their  taking  possession  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that  our  laws  are 
as  efficient  to  protect  their  lives  and  their  property,  as  to  protect  our 
own  ?  Is  it  not  enough,  that  we  freely  open  to  them  all  the  avenues 
to  wealth  and  happiness  that  lie  open  to  our  own  citizens  2  Is  it  not 
enough,  that  we  do  all  this  for  them,  and  do  it,  not  in  a  grudging 
spirit,  but  out  of  a  deep  sympathy  with  their  past  misfortunes  and 
unhappiness  ? — that  henceforth  we  stand  between  them  and  want, — 
between  them  and  their  former  oppressors, — between  them  and  all 
the  world? 

Must  we  be  expected  to  surrender  our  entire  nationality  to  them, 
and  to  allow  them  to  inoculate  it  with  their  customs,  tastes,  opinions, 
manners,  and  prejudices  ?  Must  we  be  asked  to  give  up  all  that  we 
hold  most  dear,  because,  forsooth,  in  the  nature  of  things,  it  cannot 
be  as  dear  to  them  ?  Must  our  hospitality  become  the  means  of  its 
own  destruction,  and  our  generosity  prevent  the  noble  objects  for 
which  it  is  put  forth  ? 

A  thousand  times,  No  !  We  may  say  to  our  foreign  population, 
both  in  sympathy  and  sincerity,  that  they  are  no  more  than  our 
guests ;  we  neither  compelled  nor  invited  them  to  come  among  us, 


308  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

and  we  do  not  insist  that  they  shall  remain ;  we  offer  them  equal 
protection  with  that  given  to  our  own  citizens,  and  equal  opportuni 
ties  for  improving1  their  condition.  But  it  is  for  them  to  assimilate 
their^vrays  of  thinking  to  ours  ;  not  for  us  to  go  over  to  them.  If 
they  are  dissatisfied  with  our  opinions,  they  are  free  to  return  again 
whence  they  came.  But  they  shall  never  assume  the  management 
of  our  public  affairs  while  they  are  yet  foreign  to  us  in  spirit ;  and 
we  will  insist  on  exercising  the  right  of  passing  upon  their  qualifica 
tions  to  a  citizenship  so  fraught  with  high  responsibilities.  Short  of 
this  point,  it  is  idle  to  think  of  stopping.  To  pause  midway,  is  to 
invite  untold  disaster. 

In  this  country,  the  predominating  race  is  the  Anglo-American, 
It  was  that  invigorating  blood,  which  reddened  the  battle-fields  of  the- 
Revolution.  That  race  has  stamped  its  mind  upon  the  nation,  and 
given  it  permanent  character.  That  mind  has  built  up  our  liberal  in 
stitutions,  through  which  passes  the  course  of  all  our  national  thought. 
It  is  the  same  heart  that  sends  the  life-giving  blood  through  all  the 
members  of  the  vast  political  body.  If  other  races  have  united  with 
it,  they  have,  of  necessity,  merged  their  individualities  in  its  overpower 
ing  current ;  they  have  forgotten  themselves,  and  fallen  in  with  the 
wide  stream  of  American  life  and  manners. .  It  remains  for  the  original 
Anglo-Americans  alone,  therefore,  to  go  forward  with  the  work  of  im 
pressing  all  national  sentiments  with  their  own  bold  and  free  pecu 
liarities.  They  are  the  dominant  race,  to  whom  the  possession  of  the 
continent  has  manifestly  been  delivered.  Their  native  spirit  belongs 
to  the  soil.  It  lias  been  strengthened  through  the  storms  of  war,  and 
it  will  be  nurtured  in  the  long  sunshine  of  peace.  Its  sceptre  will, 
not  depart ;  and  it  steadily  refuses  to  acknowledge  on  its  own  ground 
any  power  coequal  with  its  own. 

The  national  policy  of  our  country  must,  above  all  things,  be  de 
cided  and  strong,  since  the  nature  and  objects  of  our  commonwealth 
are  so  widely  distinct  from  the  policies  of  other  nations.  As  a  lonely 
settler  among  savages  must  fortify  his  home,  and  keep  watch  and  ward 
against  the  insidious  foe,  so  must  our  Republic  preserve  itself  with 


AMERICAN  NATIONALITY.  309 

scrupulous  care  against  the  infectious  assaults  of  foreign  elements, 
incompatible  Avith  its  prosperity  or  even  with,  its  existence.  America 
demands  the  careful  preservation  of  whatever  has  given  us  our  na 
tional  prosperity.  Americans  must  be  Americans ;  Americans  must 
govern  America. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  a  truth  so  obvious  as  this  would 
hardly  need  assertion.  But  the  true  basis  of  our  national  existence 
and  success,  has  for  some  years  been  studiously  ignored  and  kept  out 
of  sight  by  a  set  of  wily  politicians,  who,  reckless  of  the  means  em 
ployed,  have  only  sought  their  private  advantage.  These  agitators 
have  pandered  to  the  violent .  and  lawless  tendencies  of  a  brutal  for 
eign  immigration,  for  the  sake  of  their  votes.  To  win  them,  they 
have  loudly  proclaimed  that  America  is  the  great  receptacle  for  all 
fugitives ;  scarcely  making  a  distinction  between  fugitives  from  jus 
tice,  and  fugitives  from  oppression.  They  have  sought  to  convince 
these  strangers  that  they  had  legislative  rights  in  this  country; 
and  by  such  delusive  appeals  have,  to  a  very  great  extent,  suc 
ceeded  in  managing  the  foreign  vote,  which,  in  the  balanced  condi 
tion  of  parties,  became  a  preponderant  power.  These  operations  have 
resulted  in  preposterous  assumptions  on  the  part  of  the  immigrant 
population,  in  the  degradation  of  the  average  character  of  our  own 
rulers,  and,  to  a  lamentable  extent,  in  forgetfulness  of  the  true  char 
acteristics  of  our  nationality. 

But  a  true  nationalism,  although  not  inconsistent  with  the  broadest 
philanthropy,  is  altogether  opposed  to  this  spurious  cosmopolitanism. 
The  laws  and  foundations  of  our  American  freedom  are  peculiar  and 
separate ;  nor  is  any  man  fitted  to  govern  under  them,  without  an 
experimental  training  in  them.  This  fallacious  pretence  of  political 
benevolence,  which  studiously  avoids  mentioning  either  nationality  or 
patriotism,  and  which  enlarges  with  many  windy  generalities  upon  the 
human  race,  the  equality  of  man,  and  the  brotherhood  of  nations,  is 
the  merest  sophism.  Every  man  has  some  equal  rights,  among  which 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  But  these  must  be 
sought  by  means  not  inconsistent  with  the  general  good.  Nor  has 

14* 


310  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

the  criminal  equal  rights  with  the  lawful  citizen.  lie  has  forfeited 
them.  Nor  has  the  beggar,  who  does  not  own  a  foot  of  land  nor  a 
suit  of  clothes,  in  fact,  equal  rights  with  the  millionaire.  He  has  not 
the  right  to  use  as  much  money  or  estate,  until  he  gets  them.  He 
has  the  right  to  earn  them,  if  he  can,  and  then  to  use  them.  His 
attempt  to  use  them  without  that  preliminary,  is  robbery,  or  swind 
ling.  Degrees  of  intelligence  and  morality  also  determine  what  extent 
a  man's  rights  shall  have,  in  practice.  What  rights  he  is  fit  to  use, 
he  may  have.  This  false  cosmopolitanism  which  would  grant  equal 
rights  in  all  respects  to  the  ignorant  and  the  wise,  the  barbarous  and 
the  enlightened — which  would  at  once  confer  equal  political  privileges 
upon  the  educated,  intelligent,  and  law-abiding  American,  and  upon 
the  foreign  pauper  and  foreign  criminal — upon  the  German,  the  Irish 
man,  and  by  parity  of  reasoning  upon  the  Croat,  the  Turk,  the  Chinese, 
the  Hindoo,  the  Hottentot,  the  Australian,  the  Andaman  Islander, 
who  crawls  on  all-fours  like  a  beast,  and  has  neither  clothes,  language, 
nor  God,  cannot  meet  with  too  severe  a  reproof,  or  too  summary  a 
condemnation.  As  well  talk  of  equal  liberty  to  the  philosophic 
statesman  or  the  lawyer,  intrusted  with  the  destinies  of  millions  of 
men  or  the  interest  of  millions  of  capital ;  and  to  the  idiot,  who  can 
not  put  his  food  into  his  mouth,  nor  hide  his  nakedness. 

Such  dangerous  principles  have  been  so  industriously  inculcated, 
and  have  been  so  greedily  accepted  by  the  foreign  population  ;  such 
a  criminal  apathy  in  regard  to  the  preservation  of  political  purity  and 
the  election  of  good  men  has  prevailed  among  native  citizens ;  and 
foreign  emissaries,  lay  and  clerical,  are  pushing  such  extended  and 
powerfully  contrived  enterprises  to  grasp  the  control  of  our  educational 
centres,  our  political  organizations,  all  the  springs  of  our  national 
life,  by  schools,  hierarchies,  and  the  filthy  dregs  of  European  prisons 
and  almshouses,  that  a  great  question  is  this  day  up  before  the  people 
of  the  United  States  for  determination — new  at  least  in  form,  if  not 
in  substance.  Under  the  guidance  of  a  truly  patriotic  feeling  we 
must  answer  it.  Clear-minded  and  true-hearted  Americans  are  to-day 
called  upon  to  decide  a  question  the  most  momentous  that  has  ever 


AMERICAN  NATIONALITY.  311 

stirred  the  heart  of  the  nation,  since  the  struggle  at  its  birth.  It  is 
no  minor  question  of  dollars  and  cents,  no  dispute  between  sections 
of  the  country,  no  dreaming  discussion  of  abstractions  or  political 
theories,  no  question  whether  this,  or  that,  or  the  other  political  measure 
will  benefit  the  State ;  but  a  question  that  underlies  all  these,  the 
decision  of  which  might  possibly  obviate  any  necessity  of  examining 
them — it  is,  Are  we  to  have  a  policy  at  all  ?  Shall  our  American 
Empire,  as  established  with  its  broad  and  deep  foundations  and  its 
noble  superstructure,  cemented  with  the  blood  and  the  prayers  of 
so  many  great  and  good  men,  yet  exist  ?  Or  shall  it  be  mangled 
and  corrupted,  perverted  and  defiled,  to  suit  the  diabolic  ends  of  lay 
and  priestly  plotters,  either  native  or  foreign  born? 

Here  is  a  duty  sublime  enough  to  gratify  the  desires  of  the  noblest 
The  appeal  is  made  to  the  true  sons  of  America.  Shall  our  native 
land  become  a  sink  for  the  pollution  of  the  civilized  world  ?  Shall 
our  government,  organized  with  a  most  complex  and  delicate  ma 
chinery,  expressly  to  be  directed  by  the  highest  grade  of  intelligence, 
be  controlled  by  the  bungling  hands  of  the  foreign  boor,  or  the  med 
dlesome  cunning  of  the  foreign  priest  ?  Shall  its  wheels  be  clogged 
and  embarrassed  by  shipments  of  men,  sent  hither,  apparently,  for  no 
other  reason  than  the  deliberate  intention  of  at  once  relieving  Europe, 
and  embarrassing  us  ? 

Let  our  freemen  reflect.  The  pure  stream  of  our  nationality  may 
perhaps  .e.ndure  the  infusion  of  a  little  foreign  matter  without  percepti 
ble  injury.  Yet  there  is  some  injury;  and  a  continuance  of  this  may 
corrupt  the  whole.  Our  power  of  resisting  such  influences  is  doubt 
less  great,  but  that  is  no  reason  for  the  wanton  abuse  of  it. 

What  then  does  the  Republic  now  demand  of  Americans  ?  The 
answer  is  easy.  It  is  not  any  new  or  strange  doctrine ;  it  is  only  to 
restore  the  principles  of  action  which  heretofore  have  guided  our  best 
and  greatest  men.  It  is  to  rule  our  own  country  as  Washington  and 
the  Revolutionary  Fathers  would  have  it  ruled ;  to  cultivate  and  de 
velop  that  strong  and  good  nationality  which  has  already  carried  us 
so  nobly  onward  as  a  nation — to  Americanize  America. 


312  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

What  were  the  opinions  of  the  Father  of  his  Country  as  to  the 
character  of  foreigners,  and  the  probable  consequences  of  employing 
them  here  ? 

He  speaks  as  follows :  "  These  men  have  no  attachment  nor  ties  to 
the  country,  further  than  interest  binds  them."  "I  do  most  devoutly 
wish  that  we  had  not  a  single  foreigner  among  us,  except  the  Marquis 
de  La  Fayette."  "My  opinion  with  respect  to  immigration  is,  that 
except  useful  mechanics  and  some  particular  descriptions  of  men  or 
professions,  there  is  no  need  of  encouragement." 

"  It  is  not  the  policy  of  this  country  to  employ  aliens  where  it  can 
be  well  avoided,  either  in  civil  or  military  walks  of  life."  "It  does 
not  accord  with  the  policy  of  this  government  to  bestow  offices,  civil 
or  military,  upon  foreigners,  to  the  exclusion  of  our  own  citizens." 

Even  for  outpost  service,  among  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army, 
Washington  could  trust  none  but  Americans.  "  He  therefore  orders," 
reads  a  general  order  dated  Cambridge,  Headquarters,  July  17,  1775, 
"  that,  for  the  future,  none  but  natives  of  this  country  be  placed  on 
guard  as  sentinels  on  the  outposts." 

Can  any  one  doubt  what  Washington  would  now  say,  were  ho 
alive,  as  to  the  demands  of  an  enlightened  and  nationalized  patriotism 
in  the  present  juncture  ?  And  it  is  well  known  that  his  sentiment? 
and  apprehensions  were  shared  by  his  venerable  coadjutors  in  found 
ing  this  Republic.  The  profound  and  wise  intellect  of  Daniel  Web 
ster  perceived  the  same  dangers,  when  he  said,  ten  years  since,  "  There 
is  an  imperative  necessity  for  reforming  the  Naturalization  Laws  of  the 
United  States." 

There  is,  then,  urgent  occasion  for  the  re-assertion  of  a  strong  and 
distinctive  nationality  by  all  true  citizens  of  our  Republic,  In  de 
spite  of  the  certain  and  venomous  opposition  of  the  demagogues,  who 
will  struggle  violently,  when  "  their  craft  is  in  danger  ;"  in  despite  of 
the  anger  and  bull-headed  resistance  of  the  ignorant  foreigners  who 
have  been  trained  by  demagogues  to  imagine  that  the  cherished  fran- 

*/  o    o  & 

chises  of  American  freemen  are  equally  theirs ;  in  spite  of  obloquy 
and  invective,  the  time  has  romp,  for  the  sons  of  America  to  stand 


AMERICAN  NATIONALITY.  313' 

shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the  defence  of  her  free  and  enlightened  Con 
stitution,  in  opposition  alike  to  the  open  and  to  the  concealed  attacks 
of  ruthless  foes. 

First,  and  chiefest  of  all,  we  must  keep  the  privilege  of  citizenship 
as  a  precious  and  honorable  gift  only  for  those  approved  worthy  of  it- 
Let  us  not  confer  it  upon  the  ignorant  or  the  vile.  Let  us  not  cast 
pearls  before  swine.  Why  should  we  lavish  upon  the  rude  and  vicious 
stranger  the  birthright  of  our  free  citizens  ?  In  so  doing,  we  nourish 
in  our  bosoms  the  viper  that  prepares  to  give  the  fatal  sting.  When 
the  immigrants  are  fit  for  citizenship,  then  let  them  have  it.  Up  to 
that  time,  let  them  rest  secure  in  the  refuge  which  we  will  give  them, 
and  be  satisfied  with  their  safety.  We  must  educate  them  first,  na 
tionalize  them  next,  but  naturalize  them  only,  last  of  all. 

W7e  are  also  called  upon  to  select  and  to  elect  as  our  rulers,  not 
the  men  who  bluster  and  prate  of  their  principles  and  their  devotion 
to  the  country,  or  the  professional  politicians  who  want  office,  but  the 
purest  and  best  men,  without  regard  to  their  situation  or  business. 
They  cannot,  without  dishonor,  refuse  the  voice  of  their  country.  We 
can  have  them  if  we  will.  In  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  govern 
ment  by  such  men,  we  should  soon  see  the  safety  of  our  institutions 
replaced  upon  its  accustomed  basis.  Americans  would  again  rule 
America,  as  in  days  gone  by ;  and  while  our  great  distinctive  politi 
cal  beliefs  would  mark  the  character  and  conduct  of  our  empire,  we 
should  continue  to  offer  protection  and  freedom  to  all,  and  citizenship 
to  the  best. 

We  must  maintain  the  peculiarities  of  our  social  and  civil  life. 
We  must  maintain  our  Christian  character  as  a  nation.  We  must 
still  enforce  the  observation  of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Wre  must 
continue  scrupulously  to  preserve  the  Church  and  the  State  separate 
from  each  other.  We  must  again  avow  and  maintain  the  Christi 
anity  of  our  public  education.  Shall  children  be  taught  here  in 
heathen  schools  ?  Shame  on  the  defenders  of  such  a  measure ! 


NECESSITY  OF  AMERICAN  HABITS  AND  PRINCIPLES. 

"This  lovely  land,  this  glorious  liberty,  these  benign  institutions,  the  dear  purchase  of  our  fathers, 
are  ours  ;  ours  to  enjoy,  ours  to  preserve,  ours  to  transmit.  Generations  past  and  generations  to 
come,  hold  us  responsible  for  the  sacred  trust.  Our  fathers  from  behind  admonish  us  with  their 
anxious  paternal  voices,  posterity  calls  out  to  us  from  the  bosom  of  the  future,  the  world  turns  hither 
its  solicitous  eye, — all,  all  conjure  us  to  act  wisely  and  faithfully  in  the  relation  which  we  sustain." 

WEBSTER. 

AMERICANS  are  frequently  reminded  that  national  sympathies  are 
not  to  be  eradicated ;  that  the  Scot  cannot  be  expected  to  bury  those 
recollections  which  the  songs  of  Burns  so  sadly  recall ;  nor  can  the 
exiled  German  shut  out  from  his  heart  the  feelings  that  will  rise 
and  swell  at  the  mention  of  Fatherland,  or  the  Swiss  forget  his  wild 
mountain-home.  These  appeals  come  with  irresistible  power  to 
every  mind,  and  with  none  do  they  plead  more  loudly  than  with  an 
American. 

We  freely  concede  the  force  of  these  appeals ;  for  our  heart  would 
be  false  to  its  own  instincts  if  it  did  not  acknowledge  their  power. 
We  would  never  ask  our  foreign  friends,  who  seek  amongst  us  an 
asylum  from  tyranny,  or  a  home  in  which  they  may  better  their  con 
dition,  to  forego  and  keep  out  of  sight  any  of  those  endeared  associa 
tions  which  give  life  its  chief  sweetness,  and  throw  around  it  the 
highest  charm.  These  recollections  are  sacred.  They  can  never  be 
torn  from  the  human  heart ;  and  that  would  be  but  a  wretched  pro 
fession  of  liberty  which  allowed  itself  to  interfere  with  their  existence. 
Rather  would  a  true  liberty  feed  and  foster  these  deep  emotions, 
underlying,  as  they  do,  natures  of  the  finest  quality  and  the  noblest 
capacity. 

But  is  it  conceded,  as  yet,  that  such  sentiments  as  these  ought  to 
supplant  principles  that  embrace  the  happiness  of  a  world  in  their 
comprehensiveness  ?  Do  those  who  plead  so  touchingly  for  the  exile, 


316  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

believe  that  lie  is  to  make  no  surrender  of  any  of  liis  feelings,  nor 
even  of  any  of  liis  prejudices,  in  exchange  for  the  inestimable  privi 
leges  he  here  seeks  to  enjoy  ?  Why  has  he  left  home,  kindred,  and 
friends,  if  not  to  avail  himself  of  an  advantage  that  is  to  outweigh 
every  other  ?  And  are  we  to  expect  that  such  advantages  are  to  be 
put  aside  for  the  sake  of  ministering  to  the  pleasures  of  memory  ? — 
that  our  fundamental  principles  are  to  be  held  as  nothing,  in  order 
that  emotions  which  stir  an  individual  heart  may  have  free  course, 
even  to  the  building  up  among  us  of  new  nationalities  ?  With  all 
due  respect  to  the  feelings  by  which  our  new  foreign  friends  profess 
to  be  so  deeply  moved,  such  a  course  is  absurd  on  their  part,  and 
inimical  to  our  interests. 

We  might,  very  naturally,  discourse  of  the  duty  of  naturalized 
citizens  to  adopt  our  habits  and  principles,  before  we  thought  of 
what  the  advantage  would  be  to  them.  But  our  address  is  not  now 
so  much  to  those  foreigners  who  come  into  our  midst  simply  for  a 
home  and  its  many  untold  comforts,  as  it  is  .to  that  portion  who  have 
become  what  is  termed  "  naturalized  ;"  that  is,  who,  like  plants  re 
moved  to  another  soil,  are  there  to  take  root  and  thrive  in  common 
with  all  things  else  which  that  soil  produces.  They  deliberately 
declare  their  intention  to  throw  off  all  allegiance  to,  and  connection 
with,  foreign,  potentates,  and  bind  themselves  with  a  solemn  oath  so 
to  do.  As  soon  as  the  requisite  period  of  probation  has  elapsed — 
which  is,  indeed,  a  most  indulgently  brief  one — by  complying  with 
certain  forms,  they  are  admitted  to  all  the  rights,  privileges,  and  im 
munities  of  American  citizens.  From  that  hour  they  stand  on  just 
the  same  footing  with  a  native  of  the  soil.  Our  laws  throw  around 
them  the  same  sufficient  protection — which,  indeed,  they  did  not  fail 
to  do  before — the  same  opportunities  lie  before  them  for  bettering 
their  worldly  circumstances,  and  the  same  field  is  allowed  them  in 
which  to  expand  and  develop  their  individual  characters.  Our  richly 
endowed  public  schools  are  thrown  open  to  their  children,  that  they 
may  o;o  in  with  the  sous  and  daughters  of  our  citizens,  and  become, 
like  them,  .candidates  for  an)-  of  the  public  Irusl.-,  which  may  in  after 


AMERICAN  HABITS  AND   PRINCIPLES.  317 

years  be  imposed  upon  them.  They  find  no  restraint  thrown  upon 
their  accustomed  modes .  of  worship,  but  are  at  liberty  to  do  exactly 
as  their  consciences  may  dictate.  In  every  direction,  they  find  lib 
erty  in  its  largest  sense.  The  single  restraint  upon  it  is,  that  what 
they  enjoy  shall  in  no  wise  conflict  with  the  enjoyments  of  others. 
It  is  upon  this  simple  principle  of  concession,  of  regard  for  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  our  fellow- creatures,  that  all  government  exists ;  and 
without  such  mutual  concession,  a  government  could  not  stand  for  a 
day. 

Such  being  the  position  of  naturalized  citizens,  and  such  the  lib 
erality  of  the  gifts  bestowed,  it  may  well  be  inquired  whether  their 
very  first  duty  is  not  to  put  themselves  in  the  way  of  acquiring  our 
habits,  and  obtaining  the  most  intimate  knowledge  of,  and  insight 
into,  our  principles.  The  inquiry  seems  most  natural.  Indeed,  the 
wonder  rather  is,  why  it  should  be  made  at  all ;  for,  were  it  not  for 
the  strange  course  that  popular  events  have  taken,  within  a  few  years 
in  this  country,  in  reference  to  naturalized  citizens,  it  would  seem 
egregious  to  ask  such  a  question  at  all.  When  an  alien  relinquishes ' 
his  obedience  as  a  subject,  and  puts  on  the  allegiance  which  we  owe  I 
our  country,  he  in  fact  becomes  one  of  ourselves,  and  is  supposed,  by 
the  very  act,  to  declare  that  he  admits  his  duty  to  be  the  same  with 
ours. 

What  else  can  this  declaration  which  he  has  made,  and  this  oath 
which  he  has  taken,  be  supposed  to  mean  ?  If  it  have  no  meaning, 
then  what  the  necessity  of  going  through  such  a  ceremony  at  all? 
But  if  the  forms  are  invested  with  any  thing  like  a  purpose ;  or  any 
intention  is  thought  to  lurk  within  their  limits,  what  can  that  purpose 
and  intention  be  ?  How  shall  we  know,  except  by  means  of  the  very 
plain  language  which  the  alien,  who  is  about  to  become  naturalized, 
takes  voluntarily  upon  his  lips  ? 

We  should  regard  with  the  utmost  aversion  a 'native  citizen  who 
openly,  or  even  by  his  conduct,  professed  to  set  at  naught  the  solemn 
oath  by  which  he  bound. himself  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  citizen. 
We  should  brand  such  a  person  as  a  traitor  to  his  country  and  its 


318  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

interests,  and  lie  would  receive  nothing  but  the  anathemas  and  ex 
ecrations  of  every  true  patriot.  Naturalization  is  not  simply  a  one 
sided  case  of  promising ;  it  is  a  matter  of  mutual  obligation,  wherein 
a  citizen  receives  quite  as  much  as  he  gives.  It  is  a  contract  which 
cannot  be  dissolved  except  with  the  consent  of  both  the  parties  con 
cerned.  Those  two  parties  are — the  great  public  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  individual  man  on  the  other. 

No  man  understanding  the  rights  and  duties  of  American  citizen 
ship,  ever  could  have  thought  he  was  at  liberty  to  slight  or  overlook 
the  requirements  of  a  citizen.  To  imagine  he  may  proceed  so  far  as 
he  finds  it  for  his  interest,  but  that  when  he  is  called  on  to  make  some 
few  sacrifices  for  the  sake  of  duty,  he  will  retreat  within  his  own  self 
ishness,  disregard  all  the  demands  of  the  common  interest  upon  him, 
and  still  call  on  government — which  is  with  us  but  the  expression  and 
execution  of  the  common  welfare — to  protect  him  intact  from  harm, 
is  impossible  and  preposterous.  No  popular  government  could 
ever  exist  for  a  day  on  such  a  basis.  The  ground  on  which  our  polit 
ical  institutions  rest  is,  that  the  general  interest  ought  to  take  the. 
place  of  that  merely  individual.  Every  citizen,  freely  agreeing  to 
this,  is  most  certainly  assured  that  his  private  interests  will  be  abun 
dantly  protected ;  and  whatever  concessions  it  may  be  needful  for  him 
to  make  in  view  of  the  public  benefit,  will  be  sure  to  return  with  large 
interest.  All  private  rights  being  merged  in  those  of  the  many,  the 
former  acquire  a  new  strength,  are  able  to  sustain  themselves,  and 
never  fear  conflict  with  those  of  any  individual. 

We  are  hardly  able  to  conceive  how  the  majority  of  our  natural 
ized  citizens  look  at  these  things  in  a  different  light  from  this.  Those 
of  them  who  may  not  do  so,  have  yet  the  alphabet  of  political  free 
dom  to  learn.  They  have  still  to  be  taught,  perhaps  by  hard  expe 
rience,  that  each  individual  can  be  free  only  where  all  are  free ;  that 
respect  for  others'  rights  by  no  means  implies  a  loss  of  one's  own  priv 
ileges  ;  and  that  mutual  concessions,  instead  of  depriving  any  of  indi 
vidual  liberty,  are  rather  the  means  whereby  that  liberty  may  become 
larger  and  more  expansive. 


AMERICAN   HABITS   AXD   PRINCIPLES.  319 

When  a  foreigner,  for  the  first  time,  styles  himself  an  American 
citizen,  he  feels  that  he  has  come  into  possession  of  certain  privileges 
that  were  never  his  before.  He  is  a  new  man,  in  more  respects  than 
one ;  he  has  cast  off  old  alliances,  and  put  on  broad  and  new  respon 
sibilities.  Henceforth,  our  schools  are  his  schools ;  our  public  halls, 
our  rights  at  the  ballot-box,  our  claims  upon  the  protection  of  law, — 
all  are  his  as  much  as  they  are  our  own.  It  is  but  fair  to  suppose 
that  he  has  come  into  this  new  arrangement,  not  with  the  sole  idea  of 
personal  and  selfish  advantage,  but  rather  out  of  love  for  the  princi 
ples  of  our  system.  He  must  have  an  affection  for  those  principles, 
because  they  allow  him,  as  wel/  as  others,  to  pursue  his  own  highest 
happiness  without  hindrance  of  any  description. 

If  this,,  then,  be  the  case — and  it  most  assuredly  ought  to  be  with 
every  honest  naturalized  citizen  on  our  soil — how  obvious  are  the  ad 
vantages  that  will  grow  out  of  the  immediate  adoption  by  those  citi 
zens,  of  our  peculiar  habits  and  modes  of  thought  ?  What  a  bless 
ing  it  is  to  them,  to  come  at  once  into  a  close  and  hearty  realization 
of  those  principles  for  which  they  have  professed  so  much  affection ! 
How  much  richer,  and  broader,  and  deeper  will  be  their  share  of  our 
common  inheritance,  if  they  acquire  an  early  possession,  undivided  by 
the  lines  ojf  any  selfish  reservations,  and  retained  with  all  the  single 
ness  of  feeling  which  belongs  to  the  native  born  ? 

Taking  the  case  of  our  common  schools,  for  example,  every  natu 
ralized  citizen  must  feel  that  there  is  open  to  him  a  privilege  -which 
no  other  nation  has  ever  offered  to  its  people.  In  these  schools,  so 
amply  endowed  at  the  public  cost,  he  finds  instruction  from  well-qual 
ified  teachers  for  all  his  children.  There  they  may  be  taught  the  ne 
cessary  branches  of  an  education,  which  in  after-life  they  can  expand 
to  any  limit.  They  sit  on  the  same  benches  with  the  children  of  our 
most  worthy  citizens.  No  ideas  of  quality  or  rank  are  allowed  to 
throw  up  the  least  barrier  between  them.  They  study  from  the  same 
books,  and  are  placed  in  the  same  divisions  and  classes.  They  com 
pete  for  the  same  rewards,  and  are  alike  honored  by  the  commenda 
tion  of  instructors  and  the  appreciation  of  the  public. 


320  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Could  any  educational  system  be  devised  that  would  give  wider 
freedom,  or  more  extended  privileges  than  this  ?  Is  there  the  least 
room  for  any  man,  however  bigoted,  to  find  fault  with  a  plan  of  such 
generous  comprehensiveness  ?  If  a  naturalized  citizen  honestly  wish 
to  enjoy  the  boasted  privileges  which  our  institutions  extend  him,  and 
bringing  his  children  to  the  same  enjoyment  with  himself,  to  have 
their  minds  educated  and  adapted  to  the  realization  of  all  our  national 
advantages — both  civil  and  social — by  what  more  easy  and  direct 
method  can  it  be  done,  than  by  taking  advantage  of  our  common 
schools  ?  If  the  foreign-born  parent  was  first  led,  through  pure  admi 
ration  for  our  country  and  its  institutions,  to  leave  the  place  of  his 
birth  for  our  more  favored  land,  assuredly  he  must  be  doubly  anxious 
to  secure  for  his  offspring  every  one  of  those  inestimable  privileges, 
which,  till  now,  he  has  never  enjoyed.  He  will  be  watchful,  lest 
some  of  them  may  be  accidentally  overlooked.  Every  thing  that  lie& 
open  for  the  common  benefit,  he  will  be  specially  strenuous  to  have  a 
share  in.  Intellectual  advantages  he  will  be  particularly  earnest  in 
his  endeavors  to  obtain ;  and  all  facilities  for  better  comprehending  the 
principles  and  working  of  our  system  of  government,  he  will  not  only 
take  quick  advantage  of  in  his  own  person,  but  will  likewise  introduce 
his  children  to,  at  the  earliest  moment  within  his  power. 

So  far,  wre  have  only  looked  at  the  manner  in  which  a  natural 
ized  citizen  should  show  himself  consistent  with  the  professions  made 
at  the  time  of  his  assuming  citizenship.  There  is  a  point  beyond 
this ;  it  is  the  way  in  which  such  a  newly-made  citizen  can  acquire 
an  absolute  advantage,  by  instantly  conforming  to  the  spirit  of  our 
institutions,  and  to  our  peculiar  modes  of  thought.  If  the  foreigner 
have  had  the  sagacity  to  recognize,  previously,  the  advantages  of  our 
system,  it  certainly  cannot  be  very  necessary,  at  this  late  day,  to  re 
hearse  to  him  what  he  already  knows.  .  Of  course  it  must  be  sup 
posed  he  had  pondered  this  matter  well  before  he  took  the  first  step; 
but  having  once  joined  the  bands  of  brotherhood  with  us,  he  cannot 
be  too  forward  or  too  earnest  in  adapting  himself,  wholly  and  heart 
ily,  to  those  institutions,  the  high  blessings  of  which  he  seeks  to  enjoy. 


AMERICAN   HABITS   AND   PRINCIPLES.  321 

It  would  seem,  too,  most  natural  that  a  stranger  who  had  deter 
mined  to  cast  his  lot  with  ours,  should  throw  all  his  sympathies  into 
the  same  channel  with  our  own, — should  closely  scrutinize  our  habits, 
our  principles,  our  institutions, — and  show  himself  behind  no  other 
citizen  in  transfusing  the  spirit  of  his  new  nationality  into  his  own 
individual  feelings  and  thoughts.  He  must  remember  that  oure  is  a 
government  of  the  people ;  of  that  large  community  he  counts  but 
one.  All  public  affairs  rest,  for  their  maintenance  and  security,  upon 
the  popular  will.  If  the  people  are  frivolous,  thoughtless,  guided  by 
any  less  serious  motive  than  the  single  one  offered  by  a  sober  and 
deliberate  judgment,  then  the  general  interest  must  suffer  accord 
ingly.  As  one  of  the  people — as  a  citizen  among  his  fellow-citizens — 
our  naturalized  friend  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  whatever  is  done 
by  the  popular  voice,  directly  affects  himself.  Hence  he  is  interested 
in  all  our  laws,  our  customs,  our  habits  of  thought,  and  our  institu 
tions.  He  cannot  remove  himself  away  from  our  midst,  and  delib 
erately  declare  that  whatever  may  transpire,  is  all  the  same  to  him. 
He  cannot  conscientiously  hold  himself  aloof,  and  say  that  he  cares 
neither  for  this  nor  that  law.  As  a  citizen,  he  must  care  for  every 
public  transaction  that  bears  upon  the  general  welfare.  Having  once 
adopted  certain  responsibilities — invested  at  the  time  of  his  acquiring 
citizenship — it  is  out  of  his  power,  so  long  as  he  remains  a  citizen,  to 
lay  them  aside  on  any  pretence  whatever. 

The  sooner,  too,  he  enters  with  his  whole  soul  into  the  spirit  of  our  I 
American  life,  the  sooner  he  will  learn  to  love  the  new  possession  | 
that  has  become  his  own.     It  will  be  easier  for  him,  then,  to  note  and  :; 
understand  the  practical  working  of  many  things  that  before  were 
little  better  than  enigmas.     As  .his  interest  increases,  his  affection 
will  deepen.    As  he  feels  his  own  share  of  the  common  responsibility 
enlarge,  he  will  likewise  find  the  confidence  of  his  new  fellow-citizens 
abounding.     Instead  of  being  suspiciously  pushed  aside  or  overlooked, 
he  will  find  himself  openly  welcomed,  whilst  thousands  of  generous 
hearts  respond  to  the  anxious  beatings  of  his  own. 

But  let  the  naturalized  citizen  keep  back  these  spontaneous  iin- 


322  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

pulses  of  his  better  nature ;  let  him  say  to  himself,  "  I  will  enjoy  the 
full  protection  of  their  laws,  but  never  will  I  subscribe  to  their  spirit 
or  principle,"  and  matters  immediately  assume  a  very  different  aspect. 
Adopting  such  a  course,  he  cuts  himself  off  from  his  own  rights,  and 
forfeits  every  further  claim,  either  to  the  protection  or  the  respect  of 
all  true  Americans. 

If  such  a  one  league  with  others  similarly  disposed,  and  place 
himself  at  the  direction  of  any  man,  or  body  of  men,  to  compass  meas 
ures  that  are  calculated  to  subvert  the  fair  and  open  workings  of  our 
political  system  ;  if  this  new  organization,  stretching  from  city  to  city, 
and  from  State  to  State,  bind  together  its  cords,  and  weave  over  and 
over  its  network  of  conspiracy,  till  it  is  thought  that  no  human  power, 
social  or  political,  can  break  it  in  sunder  ;  if  these  men  attack,  stealth 
ily,  our  common-school  system,  determined,  by  cajolery,  by  supplica 
tion,  by  art,  or,  finally,  by  force,  to  overthrow  this  bulwark  of  liberty, — 
we  are  necessarily  compelled  to  look  about  us  in  absolute  dismay, 
hardly  prepared  for  a  demonstration  of  such  magnitude  and  power, 
and  perfectly  at  a  loss  to  understand  what  may  be  the  object  aimed  at. 
But  the  reaction  will  inevitably  arrive.  It  must  come,  where  all  men 
are  free ;  nor  can  it  long  be  delayed,  where  the  people  are  the  watch 
ful  and  jealous  guardians  of  their  own  liberties.  It  is  but  the  fulfil 
ment  of  the  old  law,  that  "  they  who  sow  the  wind  shall,  in  due  time, 
reap  the  whirlwind." 

This  it  is  that  has  called  into  life  the  active  and  repellent  spirit  of 
Americanism  which  is  to-day  sweeping,  with  the  power  and  majesty 
of  a  tempest,  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land.  Such  unnat 
ural  and  underhanded  demonstrations  were  the  only  ones  that  could 
summon  forth  this  giant  resistance  to  the  enemies  of  American  lib 
erty.  The  naturalized  citizen  should  read  the  lesson  carefully,  and 
ponder  it  with  diligence ;  for  it  teaches  him  but  too  emphatically 
what  is  the  deep  meaning  of  those  principles  which  Americans  pro 
fess,  and  how  completely  ingrained  they  are  in  every  true  American 
heart. 


THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  MAJORITY  TO  RULE. 

"  And  sovereign  Law,  the  world's  collected  will, 

O'er  thrones  and  globes  elate, 
Sits  empress — crowning  good,  repressing  ill." 

MAN  was  created  for  society :  the  necessity  of  laws  for  governing  his 
relations  to  his  fellows  is,  therefore,  co-existent  with  .his  nature.  No 
community  ever  existed,  however  savage  or  degraded,  which  did  not 
acknowledge  some  of  the  elements  of  government.  The  products  of 
the  chase — the  earth-hole  used  as  a  habitation — even  the  rude  knife 
and  spear,  have  their  acknowledged  owners,  and  any  infringement  of 
these  rights,  results  in  personal  conflict.  A  little  reflection  leads  us  j 
to  the  conclusion,  that  we  have  no  individual  rights  which  can  be  j 
separated  from  our  relations  towards  others ;  for  if  selfishness  could  j 
swallow  up  the  whole  being,  then  self-government  was  the  original 
law,  and  man,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  purposes  of  his  existence,  should 
live  alone,  and  exterminate  those  about  him ;  yet  this  is  not  the  case. 
The  practical  effect  of  such  an  assumption  would  result  in  destruction 
of  the  individual ;  he  would  be  outlawed  even  by  savages,  as  quickly 
as  he  would  be  arrested  and  imprisoned  among  civilized  people.  A 
desire  then  for  government  grows  out  of  the  necessity  of  our  being :  it 
is  an  appetite  as  positive  as  that  for  food. 

The  time  necessarily  occupied  by  the  individual  members  of  every 
community,  in  procuring  subsistence,  suggests,  as  a  matter  of  economy 
and  expediency,  the  delegation  of  the  management  of  government  to 
one  or  many ;  and  upon  this  necessity  arise,  not  only  the  first  forms  of 
organized  society,  but,  from  the  manner  in  which  this  authority  is 
delegated,  springs  every  possible  form  of  government. 

Numberless  absurd  theories,  sanctioned  by  "  great  names,"  have 


324  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

been  proposed  to  account  for  the  first  formation  of  government. 
Some  declare  it  to  be  of  Divine  origin,  and  consequently  a  compact 
between  the  people  and  divinely  appointed  rulers.  Opposed  to  this 
proposition,  are  those  who  believe  it  to  be  simply  an  agreement 
among  the  people  themselves. 

To  say  that  government  exists  by  Divine  power,  is  true  in  the  gen 
eral  sense  of  all  things  existing  by  the  same  cause ;  but  we  are  not  to 
stop  at  the  threshold  of  inquiry  by  such  a  misapplication  of  a  tru 
ism.  We  are  to  consider  how  far  that  same  Divine  Authority  decreed 
that  man  should  be  left  to  choose  and  fashion  his  political  relations. 
The  advocates  of  the  Divine  origin  of  government  have  always  been 
the  idolatrous  worshippers  of  absolutism,  and  no  outrage  has  ever  been 
committed  by  tyrants  upon  the  people,  that  has  not  had  the  profane 
endorsement — Divinely  chosen  rulers  can  do  no  wrong.  But  the  wis 
dom  of  those  fathers  of  our  country  who  established  the  American 
Republic  rejected  such  a  theory,  finding  no  Divine  sanction  for  op 
pression  and  wrong,  and  therefore  set  vigorously  to  work  to  extend 
the  blessings  of  rational  freedom,  and  to  build  up  fortresses  against 
encroaching  power. 

In  the  history  of  nations  and  individuals  which  have  passed 
away,  the  idea  that  the  only  legitimate  end  of  government  is  the 
public  good,  was  confined  to  the  breast  of  the  philosopher,  or  an 
nounced  at  the  sacrifice  of  life  by  the  patriot  and  reformer.  The  or 
ganized  power  of  the  oppressor  was  more  than  equal  to  the  undis- 
cipled  assertors  of  so  great  a  truth;  but  in  our  day,  the  example 
the  American  people  have  set  of  the  beauty  of  the  practical  work 
ings  of  this  truth,  has  already  had  the  effect  to  make  its  adoption 
almost  universal,  not  only  among  reflecting  minds,  but  among  the 
governed  of  the  great  bulk  of  every  enlightened  population.  To 
the  people  the  importance  of  cherishing  this  idea,  that  government 
is  an  implied  contract,  and  not  a  Divine  right,  can  hardly  be  esti 
mated.  Its  simple  conception  is  the  beginning  of  political  wisdom: 
a  clear  and  comprehensive  idea  of  it  in  the  mind  of  each  individ 
ual,  is  one  of  the  best  safeguards  of  our  own  free  institutions. 


THE   RIGHT   OF   THE   MAJORITY   TO   RULE.  325 

Having  decided  that  government  is  a  compact,  its  operation,  if 
consistent,  must  be  to  effect  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  num 
ber.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  the  rule  of  the  majority  is  the  clear 
est  expression  of  the  cherished  principle.  To  say  that  this  rule  is 
an  imperative  necessity,  is  harsh  and  unsatisfactory ;  but  to  say  that 
to  pursue  some  determinate  plan  for  a  general  happiness  among 
the  contradictory  interests,  opinions,  and  feelings  of  society — this 
rule  of  action  is  the  most  admirable,  and  most  in  harmony  with 
those  great  general  laws  which  bind  together  both  the  physical  and 
moral  world — then  we  shed  light  upon  the  reason  of  the  rule,  for 
that  the  principle  grows  out  of  the  very  nature  of  the  best  form  of 
political  existence. 

The  rule  of  the  majority  is  the  only  one  calculated  to  secure  the 
happiness  of  the  whole,  for  there  is  rarely  an  exception  in  an  intel 
ligent  community  where  the  majority  is  not  competent  to  take  the 
best  possible  care  of  its  own  interests ;  and  the  minority,  having  the 
full  benefits  of  the  prevailing  laws,  will  be  found,  on  examination, 
rather  to  sacrifice  opinions  and  feelings  than  things  of  vital  impor 
tance.  In  the  practical  working  of  this  principle  in  our  govern 
ment,  it  is  noticeable  that  however  the  people  may  be  agitated  upon 
any  question — however,  for  the  moment,  the  minority  may  feel 
aggrieved — the  majority  never  becomes  permanently  fixed ;  for  in  the 
constant  changes  of  our  rulers,  every  possible  opportunity  is  afforded 
to  correct  errors  or  soften  opposition,  and  the  clamorous  minority  of 
to-day  in  a  few  short  months  finds  itself  triumphantly  borne  along 
on  the  breeze  of  popular  favor.  The  keen  and  searching  inquisition 
under  which  every  scheme  of  public  policy  passes  in  a  republican 
government,  before  it  becomes  "  a  law,"  may  be  said  to  test  its  value 
and  practicability  before  it  has  a  vital  application.  A  universal 
agreement  of  opinion  would  soon  degenerate  into  apathy,  and  apathy 
would  pave  the  way  for  the  foot  of  the  oppressor.  The  opposition, 
therefore,  of  the  minority  is  just  as  essential  for  the  full  understand 
ing  of  our  rights,  as  is  the  approbation  of  the  majority  necessary 
to  give  them  legal  force.  The  clash,  in  fine,  of  the  minority  and 

15 


326  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

the  majority,  so  far  from  marring  the  great  design  of  civil  institu 
tions,  contributes  directly  to  advance  it. 

In  its  every-day  workings,  we  find  society  insensibly  separates 
into  three  divisions — the  very  rich,  the  people  made  comfortable  by 
daily  industry,  and  the  poor.  Now  the  majority  must  ever  be  found 
among  those  who  are  successful  laborers,  and  it  will  never  yield  to 
the  assumptions  of  the  wealthy,  nor  to  the  unreasonable  desires  of  the 
very  poor.  Here  then  we  find  the  rock  against  which  vainly  beat 
the  pretensions  of  the  parvenu,  and  the  distinctions  among  those 
who  would  even  demolish  society  for  personal  gain.  And  it  will  be 
found,  that  notwithstanding  the  public  mind  is  occasionally  clouded 
by  threatening  storms,  or  suffers  from  absolute  outbreak,  the  solid 
interests  of  all  are  carefully  guarded  ;  for  this  conservative  majority 
is  constantly  recruited  from  the  ranks  of  those  who,  but  a  short  time 
previously,  were  among  the  poor;  whilst  the  pretensions  rich,  in  the 
vicissitudes  that  attend  the  holding  of  property  when  no  exclusive 
privileges  are  granted,  sink  out  of  sight  before  they  can  do  any  mate 
rial  injury  by  the  misapplied  use  of  their  wealth. 

It  is  remarkable  that  a  government  of  the  majority  has  constantly 
set  limitations  upon  the  exercise  of  its  own  authority.  The  ruler, 
therefore,  of  a  republic  is  constantly  surrounding  himself  with  re 
straints  ;  while  the  ruler  of  a  monarchy,  a  single  individual,  is  con 
stantly  extending  the  gratification  of  his  powers,  and  thus  affords 
the  best  illustration  of  the  fitness  of  the  majority  to  rule.  Consti 
tutions,  however,  when  majorities  govern,  are  after  all  only  written 
checks  and  limitations  upon  the  actions  of  men,  and  are  created  by 
their  powers  without  reference  to  the  fact,  whether  they  shall  in  the 
future  fall  into  the  party  in  the  majority  or  in  the  minority.  This 
conduct,  so  magnanimous,  has  its  moral  effect  upon  the  minds  of 
men,  for  it  is  rarely  that  a  faction  attempts  to  violate  the  funda 
mental  law ;  or  if  ventured  upon,  it  quickly  retraces  its  steps.  There 
are  always  in  every  majority  a  large  number  of  persons  who  will 
not  sacrifice  to  party  what  belongs  to  the  country,  and  these  indi 
viduals  are  ever  ready  to  abandon  an  oppressive  majority,  and  bv 


THE   RIGHT   OF   THE    MAJORITY  TO   RULE.  327 

mii no*  over  to  the  minority,  restore  the  balances  of  the  written  con 

j ' 

stitution. 

Iii  the  history  of  our  government  it  will  be  found  that  repeated 
attempts  have  been  made  by  the  legislatures  of  our  States  to  violate 
their  respective  constitutions,  and  even  that  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment.  Every  instance  has  proved  abortive.  So  many  people  have 
instantly  resented  such  an  attempt,  and  abandoned  the  presumptuous 
party  in  power,  as  to  render  it  incapable  of  doing  injury,  and  the 
sober  second  thought  of  these  revolutionists  themselves,  has  caused 
them  finally  to  seek  redress  only  through  the  legitimate  channels  of 
the  laws. 

In  the  Federal  Government  the  advantage  afforded  the  minority 
is  permanent.  Much  as  the  States  may  differ  in  relative  size  or 
population,  they  are  equal  in  the  Senate.  The  veto  of  the  Execu 
tive  operates  as  a  check  in  favor  of  the  minority,  for  its  immediate 
effect  is  always  to  defeat  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the  legislature. 
Another  class  of  checks  grows  out  of  the  distribution  of  the  go'vern- 
ment  into  departments,  thereby  separating  interests  which  are  com 
mon  to  all  its  parts  from  those  which  are  exclusively  local.  Ano 
ther  very  important  security  against  excessive  accumulation  of  power 
is  the  confinement  of  the  Federal  Government  to  the  exercise  of  such 
powers  as  are  expressly  given  to  it  by  the  constitution,  and  the  re 
tention  of  the  remaining  portion  of  sovereignty  in  the  hands  of  the 
State  Government. 

Such  are  a  few  of  the  most  prominent  instances  of  the  radical 
importance  and  effective  character  of  the  checks  or  limitations  which 
our  majority  constantly  imposes  upon  the  exercise  of  its  own  author 
ity.  They  are  yet  more  strongly  illustrated  in  the  formation  of  the 
constitutions  of  the  new  States,  which,  though  founded  upon  the 
principle  of  universal  suffrage,  yet  judiciously  impose  limitations  upor 
the  power  of  the  majority,  wherever  believed  to  be  necessary  for  the 
public  weal. 

Yet  all  these  checks  and  limitations,  however  wisely  contrived, 
skilfully  arranged,  and  harmoniously  operative,  are  mere  machinery. 


328  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Notwithstanding  the  wisdom  of  its  arrangement,  and  the  applicability 
of  its  construction,  the  instrument  requires  a  judicious  and  energetic 
hand  to  wield  it.  Indeed,  its  very  complexity  and  delicacy  make  the 
proper  handling  of  it  an  impossibility  to  the  ignorant.  Neither  our 
own,  nor  any  other  free  government,  could  flourish  or  exist,  unless 
controlled  by  checks  and  restraints  exterior  to,  but  necessary  to  the 
well-working  of  its  machinery.  The  real  safety  of  our  government — 
its  true  security  against  oppression  on  the  part  of  the  majority,  or 
rebellion  from  the  minority — is  no  mere  contrivance,  no  balancing  of 
class  against  class,  no  reliance  in  selfish  interests.  It  is  something 
stronger,  safer,  wiser  than  any  or  all  of  these :  it  is  the  uprightness 
and  wisdom  of  an  educated  and  Christian  nation  insuring  the  justice 
of  the  majority's  decision,  and  the  acquiescence  of  the  remainder  in 
their  judgment.  This,  therefore,  requires  wisdom  iu  our  statesmen; 
it  is  this  makes  our  country  peaceful,  happy,  and  prosperous,  and  pre 
vents  the  wanton  abuse  of  the  constituted  forms  of  government  by  a 
victorious  majority.  It  is  these  moral  checks  which  remove  any 
apprehension  on  the  part  of  the  minority,  and  obviate  any  vindictive 
or  illegal  action,  or  even  a  passive  resistance  to  measures  honestly 
intended  to  promote  the  well-being  of  the  whole  community,  however 
much  they  may  fail  to  meet  the  views  of  a  part.  Such  measures 
must  be  maintained  or  opposed,  not  from  sinister  or  selfish  motives, 
but  from  the  unfeigned  conviction  that  their  retention  or  alteration 
will  be  for  the  good  of  the  greatest  number. 

Such  is  the  course  of  every  true  citizen  whose  patriotism  is  not  a 
mere  name.  A  contrary  action  on  a  question  pregnant  with  such 
mighty  results,  is  certain  to  lead  eventually  to  anarchy  and  revolu 
tion.  From  parallel  scenes  of  civil  discord — the  oppression  of  the 
weak,  the  tyranny  of  the  many — there  is  a  certain  and  dread  alterna 
tive, — an  alternative  destroying  every  hope  of  liberty,  blighting  the 
virtues  of  the  soul  and  the  powers  of  intellect,  enthralling  man  in  all 
the  darkness  of  mental  slavery,  but  an  alternative  in  which  relief 
may  still  be  found — an  irremediable,  a  hopeless  despotism. 


FREEDOM  FROM  FOREIGN  INFLUENCE. 

"  Our  virtues 
Live  in  the  interpretation  of  the  times." 

SlIAKSPEARE. 

IT  is  a  preposterous  assumption  that  any  single  class  of  our  citizens 
are  exempted  from  their  civil  responsibilities  by  reason  of  the  religion 
which  they  may  happen  to  profess.  We  are  not  able  to  understand 
why  all  the  members  of  our  vast  commonwealth  are  not  equally 
bound  and  equally  interested  in  the  preservation  of  the  general 
safety.  We  cannot  comprehend  the  rule  by  which  one  man  must 
offer  all  his  resources  for  the  public  good,  while  another,  because 
of  a  different  religious  profession,  may  remit  every  exertion  on  the 
same  behalf,  as  to  him  alone  seems  equitable  or  agreeable.  Amer 
ican  citizens  should  permit  no  religious  creed  to  teach  them  forget- 
fulness  of  their  common  country.  They  should  spurn  allianc^with 
every  cause  which  leads  them  to  forego  their  love  for  the  equal 
rights  of  all  men.  If  they  cannot  stand  together  upon  the  broad 
platform  of  liberty  for  the  whole  human  race,  there  is  no  hope  left 
that  humanity  shall  be  benefited. 

Strange  times,  indeed,  have  we  fallen  upon,  that  demand  of  us  a 
demonstration,  to  any  portion  of  the  American  population,  of  the 
necessity  of  the  duty  of  their  most  zealous  support  of  the  free  system 
of  government  under  which  they  live.  Mighty  revolutions  must 
assuredly  have  been  wrought  in  public  sentiment,  when  American 
citizens  are  discovered  to  be  forgetful  of  their  obligations  to  the 
sacred  cause  of  republican  truth,  and  wilfully  derelict  to  the  high 
duty  they  owe  to  the  country  whose  sufficient  protection  they  are 
proud  everywhere  to  claim.  No  domestic  influence,  germinating 
here  on  the  blessed  home-soil,  could  ever  have  been  potent  to  pro- 


330  A    VOICE    TO    A.MKKk'A. 

duce  a  state  of  things  so  alarmingly  fraught  with  mischief.  It  could 
have  arisen  from  the  operation  of  none  of  those  healthy  principles 
with  which  our  fathers  wisely  set  in  motion  this  comprehensive  sys 
tem  of  peace.  Alien  hatred  is  its  real  author,  and  foreign  interfer 
ence  is  its  malicious  progenitor.  It  was  produced  on  a  distant  soil, 
and  it  is  diligently  sought  now  to  be  domesticated  on  this.  It  bears 
the  brand  of  foreign  iniquity  on  its  forehead,  and  stands  confessed  a 
monster  of  too  hideous  a  mien  to  be  the  product  of  the  clime  whose 
breezes  all  whisper  of  freedom. 

We  will  not  pause  to  undertake  the  proof  of  what  is  already  so 
transparently  obvious,  namely,  that  both  Catholic  and  Protestant 
Americans  are  bound  by  an  equal  engagement  to  sustain  the  liberties 
of  that  country  whose  appointed  guardians  they  are.  It  is  a  duty 
from  which,  while  members  of  the  great  body  of  freemen,  they  can 
neither  ask  nor  expect  a  release.  The  obligation  is  stamped  too 
deeply  on  their  souls ;  it  is  ingrained  with  their  nature,  by  the  pro 
cess  of  their  early  education ;  and  he  must,  in  truth,  cease  entirely  to 
be  an  American — openly  cast  off  his  allegiance  altogether,  and  for 
swear  both  the  rights  and  the  privileges  of  citizenship — who  hopes, 
by  any  method,  to  absolve  his  conscience  from  the  religious  duty  he 
owes  to  the  country,  either  of  his  birth  or  adoption. 

But  consenting,  for  the  moment,  to  set  the  question  of  duty  aside, 
we  are  left  to  estimate  the  measure  of  interest  that  should  lead  every 
citizen,  of  whatever  religious  creed,  to  strive  to  maintain  American 
freedom  intact  from  the  taint  of  foreign  influence.  Interest  is  some 
times  a  powerful  advocate,  when  duty  cannot  find  a  tongue.  Fear 
often  persuades,  and  moves  to  action,  when  a  loftier  motive  feels  its 
power  paralyzed  and  gone. 

The  better  to  understand  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  common 
interest,  it  is  necessary  first  to  study  the  character  of  that  influence 
from  abroad,  by  whose  threats  and  usurpations  our  free  institutions 
are  subjected  to  peril.  The  grounds  of  fear  must  be  accurately  ascer 
tained,  before  the  alarmed  heart  instinctively  puts  forth  all  its  ener 
gies  for  preservation. 


FREEDOM    FROM    FOREIGN    l^FLl  ENCE.  331 

Xo  nation  can  achieve  either  character,  influence,  or  power,  unless 
It  be  founded  and  compacted  on  some  particular  principle.  Monarchy 
builds  on  the  principle  that  one  man  is  better  than  his  fellows,  and 
possesses  therefore  an  hereditary  right  to  rule.  Republicanism  cher 
ishes  the  heaven-born  idea  that  ALL  MEN  ARE  EQUAL,  and  not  only 
equal,  but  free — capable  of  self-control,  and  the  safe  direction  of  their 
own  concerns  and  interests ;  and,  so  dearly  has  this  grand  idea  been 
cherished,  that  it  has  become  an  incorporated  principle  in  the  political 
system,  and  been  employed  as  the  corner-stone  of  the  entire  edifice 
of  republicanism.  Here,  at  the  commencement,  all  absolute  forms  of 
government  are  at  open  issue  with  democracy..  There  is  a  fatal  incon 
gruity  between  them  from  the  beginning.  And  not  only  so,  but  it  is 
not  possible  for  the  influence  of  one  of  them  to  falter  in  its  active 
progress,  until  it  shall  have  finally  succeeded  in  outrooting  the  other 
from  existence. 

Foreign  potentates  are  not  blind  to  truths  of  such  magnitude, 
looming  ominously  from  the  lessening  horizon  of  their  future.  They 
understand  that  inactivity  is  destruction ;  that  silent  acquiescence  is 
worse  than  destruction ;  for  it  is  a  humiliating  confession  of  wrong,  to 
the  syllables  of  which  they  have  never  fashioned  their  lips.  They  start 
up  with  awakened  fears  and  renewed  energies.  Watching  the  con 
stant  changes  that  occur  in  the  political  sky,  they  draw  themselves 
secretly  into  closer  companionship,  each  hating  the  ether  wTith  the 
full  measure  of  his  heart's  power,  but  hating  the  new  influence  even 
more.  Considerations  of  safety  weigh  down  thoughts  of  mere  policy, 
and  they  swear  to  forget  the  smaller  evils  in  the  face  of  one  they 
esteem  far  greater.  It  is  selfishness  that  is  working  at  the  bottom ; 
but  this  selfishness  is  destined,  to  perform  an  important  work, — for  it 
will  be  the  most  active  element  in  the  destruction  of  every  system  of 
government  where  Church  and  State  are  connected.  The  prophecy, 
even  now,  is  in  the  progress  of  a  literal  fulfilment. 

Opposing  republicanism  on  grounds  like  these,  it  is  little  to  be 
expected  that  foreign  powers  will  abate  a  jot  or  tittle  of  the  intensity 
of  that  spirit  of  hatred  which  uniformly  characterizes  their  action. 


332  V    VOICE   TO    AMERICA, 

Nor  do  they  at  any  moment  give  evidence  of  its  relaxation.  If 
America  but  crosses  the  Gulf-Stream,  their  swiftest  ships  are  on  her 
track.  If  she  treats  with  a  nation  like  Texas,  they  are  there  to 
whisper  words  of  disaffection  and  discouragement.  Our  name  is 
employed  as  a  term  of  ridicule  and  reproach  abroad,  and  our  soil  is 
considered  only  a  fit  lazar-house  for  the  reception  of  all  cases  of 
political  disease.  We  are  styled  the  Botany  Bay  of  the  world, 
accepting  every  ingredient  that  is  offered  to  help  build  up  a  wild  and 
incongruous  nation ;  and  into  our  lap  are  poured  the  paupers,  the 
convicts,  the  lazaroni,  the  assassins,  and  the  vermin-eaten  rabble, 
whose  presence  is  a  source  of  peril  to  governments  whose  duty  it  is 
to  make  proper  provision  for  them.  We  contribute  of  our  bounty  to 
famishing  nations,  and  yet  are  styled  the  most  avaricious  and  grasp 
ing  of  any  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  Om1  march  forward  is  one  of 
peace  alone ;  yet  are  we  charged  with  a  spirit  of  piracy  which  befito 
only  a  nation  wholly  barbarous.  If  our  representatives  abroad  con 
vene  to  confer  upon  the  highest  interests  of  their  common  country, 
spies  dog  their  steps,  falsehoods  hunt  down  their  true  purposes,  their 
government  is  spoken  of  as  an  outlaw,  and  secret  pledges  are  circu 
lated  to  destroy  its  growing  influence  by  whatever  means,  and  at 
however  great  a  hazard. 

But  this  is  only  a  superficial  view  of  the  matter.  It  is  not  altogether 
abroad — it  is  even  on  our  own  soil  that  foreign  powers  seek  chiefly  to- 
do  the  work,  the  performance  of  which  they  have  undertaken.  Know 
ing  that  if  a  battery  is  to  be  silenced  it  must  be  carried  by  a  vigorous 
assault,  and  that  in  order  to  destroy  a  fortification  a  breach  must  first 
be  made  in  the  walls,  they  direct  all  their  secret  forces  against  that 
government  which  stands  sponsor  for  free  and  liberal  institution?. 
To  cripple  its  power,  to  weaken  its  energy,  to  obstruct  and  over 
throw  its  matured  purposes,  to  turn  its  very  forces  against  itself,  and 
thus  give  it  the  name  of  an  insane  suicide, — these  are  the  objects 
that  are  sought  with  such  an  unmistakable  eagerness,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  which  would  fill  the  world  with  the  jubilations 
of  tyranny. 


FREEDOM  FROM  FOREIGN  INFLUENCE.       333 

To  carry  forward  so  gigantic  a  purpose,  there  is  need  of  the  co 
operation  of  an  equally  gigantic  power.  Such  ends  are  wrought  but 
through  the  aid  of  mighty  instrumentalities.  Secrecy  is  likewise 
required  to  insure  success,  to  mask  the  almost  resistless  energies  of 
an  attempt  of  such  magnitude.  Where  was  a  power  endowed  with 
qualifications  of  so  peculiar  a  character  to  be  found?  At  whose 
bidding  would  it  start  up,  mailed  in  its  coat  of  impenetrable  armor, 
and  exclaim — "  Here  am  I !"  • 

The  needed  power  was  already  in  existence.  It  was  the  ultramon-. 
tane  party  of  the  Romish  Church,  whose  Pope  and  prelates  sprang 
forward  with  an  alacrity  that  showed  how  welcome  was  the  work. 
That  Church  holds  almost  complete  ascendency  in  the  Old  World ; ; 
her  emissaries  are  prowling  everywhere;  she  sustains  an  army  of  : 
secret  laborers — sappers  and  miners  of  true  freedom — whose  toils  are 
never  relaxed  by  favor,  and  never  relieved  by  sleep ;  her  temporal 
head  is  ambitious  only  of  rule,  and  her  myriad  children  are  com 
manded  only  servile  and  unqualified  obedience.  Her  whole  history 
is  at  war  with  free  aspirations  of  any  kind  or  grade.  Her  principles 
are  those  of  high-handed  usurpation.  The  rack  and  the  thumb-screw 
have  been  her  barbarous  instruments  of  discipline, — the  bloody  Inqui 
sition  has  been  the  secret  but  terrible  source  of  her  power, — and  the 
Confessional  still  remains  the  silent  engine  of  its  perpetuation. 

Foreign  rulers,  as  a  body,  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  that 
gigantic  despotism.  It  is  one  which  engulfs  all  others,  making  their 
assumptions  appear  even  trifling  in  comparison  with  its  own.  Hence 
they  consider  its  decrees  inviolable.  From  its  high  court  they  expect 
no  appeal.  They,  therefore,  have  plotted  with  it,  and  the  fruits  of 
their  machinations  they  promise  to  the  Mother  Church.  The  head 
of  that  Church  understands  the  plan,  and  forthwith  sets  himself  to 
divide  and  conquer  the  fair  realms  of  Liberty.  The  means  are  ample, 
and  are  all  ready  to  his  hand.  Emigrants  are  coming  in  long  and  j 
unbroken  processions  to  America,  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  sheep  of  his 
fold.  This  vast  mass  will  he  secretly  and  silently  congregate  on  our  .• 
soil,  not  for  the  pure  and  lawful  purposes  of  religion,  but  for  the  more 

15* 


334:  A    VOJCK    TO    AMERICA. 

easy  and  rapid  spread  of  Iris  power,  and  the  gratification  of  the  foreign 
potentates  who  form  the  bulwark  of  his  sovereignty. 

He  delegates  faithful  messengers,  who  are  appointed  shepherds  of 
his  spreading  flocks.  Patiently  and  quietly  they  go  about  their 
work,  carefully  avoiding  any  irritation  of  the  popular  mind,  seeking 
no  conflict  with  any  existing  power,  enduring  in  silence  whatever 
reproach  or  contumely  may  overtake  them,  and  striving  continually 
for  the  attainment  of  a  single  end,  the  political  as  well  as  the  spiritual 
supremacy  of  the  Pope.  This  countless  array  of  immigrants,  though 
they  may  hate  their  former  rulers  never  so  intensely,  nevertheless 
acknowledge  obedience  to  the  Pope  and  his  prelates.  That  connec 
tion  it  is  not  even  thought  of  dissolving.  Yet  the  rulers  are  but  ready 
instruments  in  the  hands  of  this  Pope, — the  Arch-Priest  who  is  skil 
fully  intriguing  for  the  perpetuation  of  their  power,  as  well  as  his 
own.  The  connection  which  holds  their  interests  together,  is  one  that 
cannot  be  dissevered. 

By  such  a  complex  process  is  the  overthrow  of  our  institutions 
sought  to  be  compassed.  Tyranny  first  drives  its  beggared  popula 
tion  from  the  land,  to  inhabit  one  of  the  fairest  and  freest  promise : 
the  Pope  is  the  ally  of  tyrants,  because  it  is  through  them  alone  that 
his  ambitious  ends  are  reached  ;  and  adherence  to  the  Church  of 
which  the  Pope  is  the  visible  head,  is  the  first  condition  needed  to 
bring  the  success  of  both  Popery  and  tyranny  to  its  desired  culmina 
tion.  They  are  joined  in  an  indissoluble  league,  and  the  same  prin 
ciple  vitalizes  both.  In  that  union  they  will  stand  or  fall  together. 
Popery  is  a  political  system  ;  cunningly  constructed,  and  energetically 
kept  in  ceaseless  operation.  Its  ambition  enclasps  the  globe.  Its 
aims  circumscribe  all  nations  and  all  people.  It  works  secretly,  when 
openly  might  be  dangerous ;  but  for  evermore  it  ivories.  Its  efforts 
know  no  relaxation.  It  is  a  gigantic  scheme  of  despotism ;  first 
sapping  the  course  of  free  thought,  and  then  appealing  to  the  super 
stitious  fears  of  the  heart,  whose  sentiments  are  rendered  unhealthy 
by  its  enchaining  wiles. 

No  wonder  that  the  foreign  powers  who  seek  our  destruction, 


FREEDOM  FROM  FOREIGN  INFLUENCE.       335 

should  apply  for  aid  to  the  head  of  a  system  like  this.  They  must 
have  been  forgetful  of  their  own  purpose,  if  they  had  passed  it  by. 
No  wonder  that  they  consent  so  unanimously  to  do  the  Pope's  bid 
ding,  if  he  will  but  engage  to  perform  a  service  in  which  they  crave 
his  effective  assistance.  He  serves,  by  this  means,  both  himself  and 
them.  He  strengthens  their  power,  and  adds  enormously  to  his  own. 
If  he  can  but  rule  in  America,  his  supple  minions  will  be  no  less 
satisfied  than  himself.  They  do  not  desire  a  new  empire  ;  they  care 
nothing  for  further  self-aggrandizement,  or  the  baubles  of  an  authority 
that  cannot  fail  to  prove  troublesome  rather  than  profitable  ;  they  do 
not  seek  to  erect  a  new  despotism,  whose  head  they  may,  some  day, 
become  themselves :  they  only  wish  that  there  may  be  no  America. 
This  beacon-light  of  the  world  does  but  throw  into  deeper  shadow 
the  realms  over  which  they  bear  rule.  They  would  have  it  extin 
guished  forever ;  and  Popery  has  seriously  undertaken  the  task,  de 
termined  here,  on  American  soil,  to  make  its  final  stand,  and  fight 
its  last  battle.  That  great  conflict,  wre  firmly  believe,  is  to  be  fought 
out  in  our  own  day. 

This  is  the  nature  of  that  foreign  influence,  exerted  on  our 
soil,  which  has  awakened  such  alarming  fears  in  these  present  times. 
The  mask  has  been  torn  away ;  the  monster  stands  exposed  before 
us.  So  far  as  Romanism  is  only  religious,  it  has  equal  rights  with 
every  other  form  of  worship,  and  every  other  creed  in  existence  ;  but 
the  moment  its  aims  become  political,  and  it  seeks  aspiringly  to 
bring  the  State  in  subjection  to  the  Church,  that  moment  it  deserves, 
as  a  system,  to  be  scouted  from  existence,  and. its  pharisaical  leaders 
to  be  deprived  of  that  freedom  whose  interests  they  have  so  basely 
been  laboring  to  betray. 

To  check  the  inroad  of  such  a  system  of  despotism,  Americans  of 
all  creeds  are  urged,  by  every  possible  consideration  of  safety,  to 
apply  themselves  without  delay.  American  Catholics  may  enjoy 
their  religion,  but  they  should  never  allow  themselves  to  be  used  for 
the  betrayal  of  their  freedom.  They  must  see,  as  the  rest  of  us,  that 
the  reign  of  Romanism  in  this  country  through  its  deputed  repre- 


336  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

sentatives,  is  a  relapse  into  the  power  of  the  self-same  tyranny  from 
whieli  they  have  escaped.  It  must  be  plain,  that  whatever  might  be 
the  loss  to  Protestants  by  the  overthrow  of  our  liberties,  it  would 
certainly  be  an  equal  misfortune  to  Catholics.  Their  interest  is  a 
common  one  with  ours.  "We  have  no  rights  to  lose  by  so  appalling 
a  misfortune,  the  privation  of  which  would  not  cripple  and  injure 
them  as  well.  All  are  bound  up  in  one  common  destiny.  All  must 
know  that  they  are  to  rise  or  fall  together. 

The  words  of  Washington  burn  in  our  memories  at  thoughts  like 
these  :  "  Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence,  I  conjure 
you  to  believe  me,  fellow-citizens,  the  jealousy  of  a  free  people  ought 
to  be  constantly  awake  ;  it  is  one  of  the  most  baneful  foes  of  a  repub 
lican  government."  And  the  expressed  fears  of  Jefferson  must  not 
be  forgotten  :  "  I  hope  we  may  iind  some  means,  in  future,  of  shield 
ing  ourselves  from  foreign  influence, — political,  commercial,  cr  ID 
whatever  form  it  may  be  attempted.  I  wish  there  were  an  ocean 
of  fire  between  this  and  the  Old  World."  And  Madison  added  : 
"  Foreign  influence  is  a  Grecian  horse  to  the  republic  ;  toe  cannot  le 
too  careful  to  exclude  its  entrance"  Warnings  like  these  are  not  to 
be  passed  lightly  by.  Events  have  abundantly  shown  the  far-seeing- 
sagacity  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic,  and  irrefragably  prove  that 
their  fears  were  founded  in  wisdom.  Americans  must  at  this  day 
give  such  warnings  due  heed,  be  their  creed  what  it  may.  When 
liberty  is  menaced  from  without,  it  should  arouse  us  all  like  the 
sound  of  a  fire-bell  in  th 


THE   ORIGIN   OF   POLITICAL   POWER. 

"For  what  is  freedom,  but  the  unfettered  use  of  all  the  powers  which  God,  for  use,  has  given?" 

COLERIDGE. 

NATIONAL  prosperity  arises  necessarily  and  only  from  intelligent 
freedom.  Nations  have  ever  been  prosperous  and  strong,  in  propor 
tion  to  their  appreciation  and  wise  use  of  liberty.  All  the  Divine 
teachings,  whether  by  revelation  or  by  human  example,  have  shown 
that  the  true  basis  of  civil  and  political  liberty — the  true  source  and 
organization  of  civil  and  political  power — are  divinely  ordained.  The 
greatest  happiness  is  always  attained  by  those  who  live  in  closest  ob 
servance  of  all  the  divine  laws  of  life ;  and  this  is  true  of  the  di 
vine  law  of  political  organization,  as  much  as  it  is  of  the  divine  laws 
of  bodily  health  or  social  happiness. 

To  fulfil  these  conditions  of  happiness,  men  must  think.  Just  as 
much  as  they  are  left  to  their  own  guidance,  just  so  much  they  need 
to  possess  and  to  use  the  power  of  quickly  discerning  between  right 
and  wrong,  truth  and  falsehood.  From  this  truth  it  follows  that  we 
Americans,  who  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  freer  exercise  of  our  facul 
ties,  and  under  less  restraints  than  are  experienced  by  any  other  na 
tion,  need  more  than  any  other  the  full  possession,  and  constant 
and  active  lise  of  a  thoughtful  and  foreseeing  intelligence. 

The  true  basis  of  political  power  is  the  consent  of  the  people  gov 
erned  ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  wisdom  of  that  consent  is  the  wis 
dom  of  the  government,  and  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
whole.  It  is  a  melancholy  fact  which  might  be  adduced  in  reply  to 
this  statement,  that  so  vast  a  majority  of  the  human  race  has  dwelt 
contentedly  in  darkness  and  chain?.  But  though  true,  it  does  not 


338  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

militate  against  our  argument.  It  only  shows  that  their  consent  has 
not  been  wisely  given.  Nor  has  any  such  nation  ever  attained  to  a 
true  prosperity,  or  a  true  happiness.  It  is  the  consent  of  the  gov 
erned  \vhich  has  upheld  all  human  governments,  and  the  refusal 
or  withdrawal  of  it  has  always  overthrown  them.  As  the  nation,  so 
is  the  government.  The  men  have  always  made  the  ruler — not  the 
ruler  the  men.  The  ruler  has  held  his  place  by  virtue  of  being  an 
exponent  of  the  national  spirit ;  by  being  such  a  man  that  the  na 
tional  mind  found  in  his  actions  its  fullest  and  freest  expression. 
This  expression  of  the  national  mind,  which  has  always  controlled 
even  the  direst  tyrannies,  has  found  its  freest,  safest,  and  most  digni 
fied  manifestation  in  our  republic,  the  best  form  of  government  yet 
established  on  earth, — which  arose,  by  the  force  of  necessity,  above 
forms  and  precedents,  and  whose  vigor  and  vitality  are  sustained  by 
a  stern  adherence  to  the  original  principle  upon  which  it  was  con 
structed, — where  the  majority  speaks  for  the  whole,  without  tyranny, 
and  the  minority  acquiesces  without  rebellion  —  and  the  glorious 
result  is  a  peaceful  and  happy  unanimity. 

That  the  will  of  the  governed,  according  to  the  design  of  the 
Almighty,  should  constitute  the  substance  of  the  government,  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  aspirations  after  political  freedom  are  an 
integral  part  of  the  human  mind  as  created  by  God.  Ignorance,  as 
we  have  remarked,  may  obscure  this  glowing  thought,  and  may 
apparently  quench  its  light ;  but  the  capacity  for  desiring  and  enjoy 
ing  liberty  is  yet  alive,  and  the  innate  longing  sometimes  bursts  forth, 
like  an  unsuspected  volcano,  beneath  the  very  feet  of  the  tyrants  who 
think  that  they  have  trodden  out  every  spark  of  the  "sacred  fire.  We 
need  not  prove  this  assertion  to  Americans.  Every  American  feels 
the  truth  of  it,  and  will  recognize  the  principle  in  full  operation  as  he 
looks  into  his  own  heart,  or  observes  the  actions  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

But  God  has  revealed  the  truth  of  free  political  principles  in  other 
ways  than  by  this  indistinct  and  feeble  natural  light.  The  revelation 
is  implied  often  and  necessarily,  throughout  the  Biblical  history  of 
the  Jewish  constitution  and  its  workings;  and  it  is  once,  at  least, 


THE   ORIGIN   OF   POLITICAL   POWER.  339 

absolutely  commanded  to  be  proclaimed  regularly,  in  so  many  words. 
K"o  allegiance  was  sworn  to  any  human  ruler.  The  code  revealed  by 
God  to  Moses,  was  submitted  to  the  people,  according  to  the  forms  of 
pure  democracy,  and  by  them  accepted  and  deliberately  agreed  on. 
"All  that  the  Lord  hath  said,"  was  their  promise,  "  we  will  do,  and 
be  obedient."  At  the  semi-centennial  jubilee,  there  was  a  ceremoni 
ous  constitutional  proclamation  of  freedom.  At  those  periods  it  was 
expressly  commanded,  in  words  whose  noble  meaning  and  associa 
tions  are  sacred  in  our  own  land,  to  "  proclaim  liberty  throughout  all 
the  land,  unto  all  the  inhabitants  thereof."*  The  whole  Mosaic  code 
was  essentially  popular  in  character.  It  was  calculated  to  develop 
individual  well-doing,  and  to  permit  only  a  minimum  of  litigation. 

The  country  was  subdivided  into  the  same  sort  of  local  jurisdic 
tion  as  constitutes  our  "  townships,"  and  which  is  well  known  to  be 
the  strong  and  essential  basis  of  all  the  machinery  of  our  own  repub 
lican  government.  The  people  elected  their  own  "selectmen,"  or 
municipal  rulers.  "Judges  and  officers,"  ran  the  command,  "  shalt 
thou  make  thee  in  all  thy  gates."  There  were  captains  of  tens,  and 
of  fifties,  and  hundreds,  and  thousands ;  and  important  disputes,  upon 
appeal,  were  only  occasionally,  and  in  the  last  resort,  to  be  decided 
by  the  leader  of  the  nation.  The  general  scheme  of  government, 
aside  from  their  municipal  authorities,  consisted  of  the  leader  for  the 
time  being,  a  chief  magistrate  or  judge,  like  Joshua ;  the  great  San 
hedrim,  or  assembly  of  the  princes,  instituted  by  Moses  and  discon 
tinued  under  Herod  ;  and  the  great  Assembly  of  the  People,  which 
wielded  a  supreme  and  predominating  power.  Popular  movements 
even  controlled  the  divinely  appointed  leader,  thus  nullifying  the 
divine  command.  The  Israelites  forced  Aaron  to  make  them  an  idol. 
They  all  refused  to  enter  Palestine,  upon  the  report  of  the  spies, 
although  Moses  desired  them  to  do  so. 

When  three  of  the  tribes  appeared  to  be  desiarnino-  to  secede  and 

1  Jl  OS 

establish  a  new  commonwealth,  the  rest  of  the  nation  assembled  at 

*  These  words  were  cast  upon  the  old  bell  that  hung  in  the  State-House,  in 
Philadelphia,  at  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


340  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Shiloli,  and  in  their  governmental  capacity  sent  Phineas  and  ten 
princes  to  treat ;  preparing  for  immediate  war  in  case  of  their  failure. 
Joshua's  last  public  act  was  to  convene  the  assembly  of  the  people, 
and  to  make  a  covenant  with  them  before  the  Lord.  When  the 
Levite's  wife  had  been  abused  by  the  people  of  Gibeah,  the  "  whole 
congregation  of  Israel"  met,  and  resolved  upon  war  against  the  tribe 
of  Benjamin. 

It  is  true  that  brief  directions  were  early  given  for  the  conduct  of 
their  king,  but  with  a  cautious  avoidance  to  recommend  such  an 
officer.  And  when  the  nation  at  last  demanded  one,  Samuel  earnestly 
and  displeasedly  remonstrated,  with  a  forcible  and  careful  explanation 
of  the  nature  of  the  government  they  were  requiring.  And  he 
only  ceased  at  the  command  of  God,  who  distinctly  attributes  their 
monarchical  tendency  to  the  spread  of  irreligion,  asserting  that  they 
were  not  rejecting  the  authority  of  Samuel,  but  of  himself,  Jeho 
vah  ;  and  he  orders  the  prophet  to  comply  with  their  foolish  wish, 
saying,  "  Hearken  unto  the  voice  of  the  people,"  but  only  after 
solemn  protest.  Even  then,  it  was  the  nation,  assembled  in  conven 
tion,  that  chose  Saul,  as  they  afterwards  chose  David.  So  they  re 
pudiated  the  heir,  Rehoboam,  who  refused  to  agree  to  the  sort  of 
Magna  Charta  which  they  demanded  of  him,  and  chose  Jeroboam 
instead. 

The  whole  organization,  indeed,  of  the  Israelitish  government,  as 
-intended  by  God,  was  of  the  very  freest  and  most  popular  kind. 
God  told  them  to  be  free,  gave  them  the  means  of  being  free.  In 
proportion  as  they  remained  free,  they  were  happy ;  the  chronicles 
of  their  kings  are  red  with  blood,  or  black  with  crime.  Yet  among 
their  kings,  David  and  Solomon  who  were  selected,  one  by  God  and 
the  other  by  his  father,  on  the  ground  of  individual  merit,  and  not 
by  the  hereditary  right  which  afterwards  prevailed,  were  the  best  of 
the  kings.  The  surrender  of  this  freedom  which  God  had  given  to 
the  Jews,  was  substantially  the  surrender  of  their  prosperity  and  virtue. 
At  once  they  ceased  to  bo  freemen,  and  to  be  virtuous.  Moses  and 
Samuel,  in  foretelling  to  the  nation  the  ovil  results  of  tho  renunciation 


THE   ORIGIN   OF  POLITICAL   POWER.  341 

of  their  liberty,  emphatically  stated  that  God  would  be  displeased  at 
the  measure,  and  would  not  hear  them  ;  that  such  renunciation  was 
especially  hateful  to  him  ;  that  it  aggravated  all  their  guilt  since  they 
came  out  of  Egypt.  The  Hebrews  were  often  and  long  in  the  prac 
tice  of  the  true  principles  of  civil  liberty.  Their  Creator  was  their 
teacher,  and  their  souls  were  elevated  and  purified  by  the  virtue  and 
prowess  of  their  valiant  chiefs  and  inspired  prophet-poets — Moses, 
Joshua,  Gideon,  Samuel,  David,  and  Solomon.  When  they  forsook 
those  principles,  courage  and  success  failed  them  together ;  and  they 
were  conquered  and  dispersed  into  endless  exile,  by  Assyrian  and 
Babylonian  armies. . 

Thus  it  appears,  both  by  the  prosperous  obedience  and  the  fatal 
disobedience  of  the  Jews  to  the  divinely  given  free  organic  law  of 
their  national  existence,  that  God  revealed  plainly  and  emphatically 
the  truth,  that  the  will  of  the  people .  constituted  the  government ; 
that  precisely  as  that  will  was  upright  and  wise,  or  degraded  and 
foolish,  the  government  was  good  or  bad,  and  the  commonwealth 
prosperous  or  unprosperous. 

The  whole  of  profane  history  is  full  of  examples  proving  the  same 
point.  By  the  actual  choice  of  the  nations,  or  by  their  satisfied 
acquiescence,  have  the  great  majority  of  rulers  been  chosen.  The 
Spartans  chose  their  kings  by  vote  for  their  ability  to  govern,  to  lead  in 
war,  to  conquer.  The  Athenian,  and,  indeed,  all  the  Greek  States, 
elected  their  ordinary  rulers,  and  likewise  the  leaders  who  com 
manded  their  armies  in  extraordinary  emergencies.  Romulus  was 
elected,  as  were  his  immediate  successors.  And  when  Tarquin  un 
dertook  to  govern  despotically,  Brutus  and  his  fellow-freemen  taught 
the  tyrant  a  lesson,  and  established  the  Roman  Republic.  The  popular 
will  of  the  Romans  chose  not  only  their  annual  consuls,  but  also  a 
dictator,  putting  the  whole  government  for  the  time  being  into  the . 
hands  of  a  Camillus  or  a  Scipio,  because  only  such  a  man  could 
perform  what  the  nation  desired.  The  Franks  and  the  Saxons,  the 
Goths  and  Vandals,  chose  their  leaders  on  the  field  of  battle,  or 
in  the  camp ;  selecting  the  men  who  could  lead  most  successfully 


34:2  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

the  national  army,  and  so  guide  the  popular  will  to  fulfilment  The 
great  Tartar  tribes,  the  Huns  who  came  into  Europe,  and  the  enor 
mous  hordes  who  from  time  to  time  have  ravaged  and  conquered  Asia, 
all  in  like  manner  chose  their  leaders  on  account  of  their  fitness  so 
to  administer  the  concerns  of  the  nation  as  to  fulfil  its  wishes.  The 
Turks  and  Saracens,  while  they  made  conquests,  were  commanded 
by  chiefs  chosen  by  the  nation,  or  acquiesced  under  as  suitable  to 
govern  it.  The  French  dynasties  have  repeatedly  perished  for 
incapacity,  and  stronger  men  have  founded  others,  with  the  consent 
of  the  people.  Neither  Meroveus,  Pepin,  nor  Hugh  Capet,  could 
secure  the  inheritance  of  their  throne  to  incapable  men.  All  the 
warlike  leaders  who  descended  upon  the  west  and  south  of  Europe, 
from  Scandinavia,  during  the  early  part  of  the  Middle  Ages,  were 
appointed  by  their  followers,  as  were,  indeed,  the  kings  of  the  Scan 
dinavian  kingdoms.  But  the  citations  of  individual  cases  would  bo 
endless.  Always  it  has  been  either  the  actual  selection  of  the  people, 
<5r  their  satisfied  acquiescence,  which  has  supported  the  government. 
This  popular  appointment  or  permission  may  most  often  have  been 
injudiciously  made, — the  acquiescence  may  have  been  that  of  the 
most  stupid  folly  or  sottish  cowardice, — but  such  has  been  the  case. 

Emperors,  kings,  hereditary  and  usurping  rulers,  the  governors  of 
republics  and  monarchies  and  oligarchies  alike,  all  have  rested  upon 
the  support  of  the  people.  Whenever  the  government  has  become 
sufficiently  disagreeable  to  the  people  to  excite  them  to  the  proper 
point,  it  has  fallen  helplessly  before  their  wrath.  The  thrones  of  ty 
rants  are  proverbially  unsafe.  Most  true  was  that  bitter  and  famous 
jest  of  Dionysius  with  his  flatterer  :  the  sword  hangs  over  the  tyrant's 
head  by  a  single  hair. 

Freedom  and  intelligence  have  ever  secured  strength  and  respect  to 
nations  and  to  their  members.  The  close  phalanx  of  the  Greeks,  few 
in  numbers  but  strong  with  the  generous  discipline  of  freedom,  mowed 
down  as  grass  the  great  Persian  hosts.  It  was  for  such  a  reason  that 
Cyrus  the  Younger  trusted  more  in  this  ten  thousand  Greeks,  than  in 
all  his  Asiatic  hosts ;  and  in  that  immortal  retreat  of  which  Xenophon 


THE   ORIGIN   OF   POLITICAL    POWER.  343 

was  first  leader  and  then  historian,  through  a  thousand  miles  of  hos 
tile  country  not  an  enemy  ventured  to  oppose  them  in  battle  array. 
The  proud  consciousness  of  such  powers  stimulated  Agesilaus,  with 
only  thirty-six  Spartans,  and  neither  money  nor  influence,  to  levy  Avar 
against  Artaxerxes,  the  monarch  of  all  Asia.  Such  powers  carried 
Alexander  and  his  Greeks  conquering  through  a  continent.  Such 
power  enabled  the  small  Swiss  republics  to  beat  off  the  repeated  at 
tacks  of  the  Austrian  empire,  and  made  the  Dutch  victorious  over  the 
veteran  Spanish  infantry,  although  commanded  by  the  best  generals  in 
Europe.  Such  power  has  made  England  the  first  among  the  nations. 
Such  power  enabled  the  Old  Thirteen  Colonies  to  resist  her  ;  and  •  is 
making  the  empire  of  which  they  were  the  nucleus,  first  her  rival, 
and  then  her  superior.  Free  nations  have  never  been  conquered  or 
resisted  but  with  the  extremest  difficulty.  No  monarch  could  over 
come  Greece  or  Rome,  as  long  as  Greece  and  Rome  were  free.  But 
with  their  loss  of  freedom,  declined  their  power ;  and  in  proportion 
as  they  became  enslaved  and  debauched  at  home,  they  were  impotent 
abroad.  The  Romans,  who  trode  down  more  kingdoms  than  any  other 
single  people,  in  losing  liberty  lost  both  vigor  and  virtue,  and  lived 
ignobly,  content  with  panem  et  circenses — "  bread  and  the  circus." 

Thus  liberty  has  not  only  strengthened  the  strong,  and  fortified 
the  souls  of  the  valiant,  but  it  has  always  and  everywhere  breathed 
courage  even  into  the  timid,  and  supplied  the  feeble  with  strength. 

We  have  shown,  then,  that  God,  in  three  revelations,  has  revealed 
the  truth,  that  government  is  properly  the  free  exercise  of  the  will  of 
the  people : 

I.  By  the  consciousness  of  the  truth,  existing  in  the  soul  of  all. 

II.  By  express  inspired  revelation  to  the  Jews,  and  by  definitely 
establishing  such  institutions  among  his  own  chosen  people. 

HI.  By  revelation  to  human  reason,  through  the  lessons  of  history. 

Man,  therefore,  was  created  by  God  to  be  free.  As  He  created 
man  upright,  so  He  breathed  this  principle  of  freedom  into  his  soul. 
And  every  disuse  or  loss  of  its  exercise  is  owing,  as  all  of  our  human 
imperfections  are  owing,  to  the  "  many  inventions"  that  men  have 


344  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

"  sought  out."  Liberty  is  a  right  given  by  God  to  every  individual 
man.  Free  political  institutions  are  of  immediate  divine  origin. 
They  are  God's  appointed  means  of  insuring  the  utmost  freedom  of 
each  citizen,  together  with  the  utmost  prosperity  and  peace  of  the 
State.  They  are  the  gift  of  God ;  and  when  men  refuse  that  gift, 
they  suffer  the  consequences.  Freedom  is  the  life  and  strength  of 
the  individual  and  of  the  State.  Its  prosperous  exercise  demands 
intelligence  and  union.  Many  causes  have  retarded  its  extension. 
Physical  force  has  predominated  in  the  earth.  The  apostles  of  free 
dom  have  been  silent  or  destroyed.  Yet  the  basis  of  freedom  exists 
in  every  human  heart ;  and  wherever  human  nature  is  elevated, 
morally  and  intellectually,  to  a  sufficiently  lofty  position,  there  free 
political  institutions  must  necessarily  follow. 

Free  government  is  the  legitimate  government  of  the  world.  It- 
is  the  one  form  of  State  authority  which  is  founded  upon  the  ever 
lasting  justice  of  God,  which  appeals  to  the  universal  conscience  and 
consciousness  of  men.  By  virtue  of  the  immortality  of  truth,  we 
are  bound  to  hope  and  expect  that  it  will  finally  become  the  sole  and 
universal  government  which  shall  exist  on  earth. 


MEXICO  AND  THE  SOUTH  AMERICAN  STATES. 

"  Progress,  the  growth  of  power,  is  the  end  and  boon  of  liberty.  Without  this,  a  people  may  have 
the  name,  but  want  the  substance  and  spirit  of  freedom."— CHANGING. 

THE  republics  of  Mexico  and  of  Central  and  South  America,  when 
compared  with  the  great  Anglo-American  republic,  instead  of  pre 
senting  any  analogy,  exhibit  a  striking  contrast  in  their  political, 
social,  and  moral  aspects.  The  question  naturally  suggests  itself, 
AVhat  has  produced  this  marked  dissimilarity  ?  What  have  been  the 
procuring  causes  that  have  rendered  those  States,  possessing  territo 
ries  more  extensive  and  more  fertile  than  those  of  the  United  States 
at  their  original  settlement,  so  weak  and  powerless  ?  The  problem  is 
not  of  difficult  solution. 

Avarice  and  rapacity  marked  the  career,  in  South  America,  of  the 
colonial  system  of  Spain.  The  interests  of  the  colonists  were  sacri 
ficed  ;  the  spiritual  tyranny  of  the  Inquisition  suppressed  all  freedom 
of  thought  or  action ;  and  crushing  monopoly  stifled  all  attempts  at 
domestic  industiy  or  commerce, — for  it  even  denounced  death  against 
all  who  were  detected  in  trafficking  with  foreigners, — whilst  the  vines 
and  olives  of  Mexico  were  rooted  out,  that  its  inhabitants  might  be 
compelled  to  draw  their  supplies  from  Spain  ;  and  the  wheat  which 
the  colonists  were  forbidden  to  export,  was  applied  to  fill  up  the 
marshes.  Not  only  did  the  Romish  priesthood  control  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  the  Mexicans,  but  the  crafty  policy  of  old  Spain  kept 
them  in  the  grossest  ignorance  and  degradation. 

"Still  promising 

Freedom,  itself  too  sensual  to  be  free, 
Poisons  life's  amities,  and  cheats  the  soul 
Of  faith,  and  quiet  hope,  and  all  that  lifts 
Aiid  all  that  soothes  the  spirit." — 


34:6  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

It  was  remarked  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  that,  in  all  his  expe 
rience  with  Spanish  official  men,  acquired  during  the  Peninsular  war, 
he  met  with  hardly  a  single  man  whose  abilities  rose  above  the  mean 
est  order  of  mind.  If  this  be  their  national  characteristic,  no  wonder 
they  prefer  to  perpetuate  ignorance. 

The  specious  and  subtle  policy  of  Spain  failed,  however,  in  great 
part,  of  its  accomplishment.  Much  of  the  precious  metals  became 
diverted  to  other  countries,  as  fast  as  they  were  robbed  from  the 
natives  of  Hayti,  Mexico,  and  Peru.  Yet  vast  were  the  treasures 
that  flowed  into  the  exchequer  of  the  haughty  and  sanguinary  Span 
iards.  The  cupidity  of  Spain  seems  only  to  have  been  equalled  by 
her  perfidy  and  cruelty.  In  order  to  retain  conquests,  the  natives 
were  exterminated.  The  spirit  of  her  government  was  tyranny  ;  the 
discipline  of  her  Church,  persecution ;  her  moral  of  trade,  monopoly. 
The  long  duration  of  these  fallacies  rendered  them,  in  Spanish  wis 
dom,  venerable.  The  Spaniards  believed  the  precious  treasures  of  the 
New  World  exhaustless.  They  imagined  their  power  invincible : 
their  ambition  and  pride  exceeded  all  limits.  But  her  haughty  spirit 
was  doomed  to  quail  before  her  rivals ;  and  the  pomp  and  chivalry 
of  Spain,  like  her  wealth  and  power,  became  the  sacrifice  required  of 
her  political  crimes. 

In  order  to  a  right  estimate  of  Mexican  character,  it  will  be  neces 
sary  to  refer  to  the  characteristics  of  the  Aztec  race  prior  to  the 
conquest,  of  Cortes.*  Our  historian,  Prescott,  here  comes  to  our  aid. 
After  speaking  of  the  romantic  and  legendary  features  of  the  con 
quest,  he  remarks : 

"  Yet  we  cannot  regret  the  fall  of  an  empire  which  did  so  little  to 
promote  the  happiness  of  its  subjects,  or  the  real  interests  of  human 
ity.  Notwithstanding  the  lustre  thrown  over  its  latter  days  by  the 
o'lorious  defence  of  its  capital,  by  the  mild  munificence  of  Montezuma, 
and  the  dauntless  heroism  of  Guatemozin,  the  Aztecs  were  emphatically 

•'x'  The  ancient  Mexicanos  were  descendants  of  the  Aztccas ;  they  assumed  th. 
name  of  Mexicos,  from  Mcxiotl,  that  of  their  chief  idol.  Prior  to  the  arrival  of 
the  Spaniards,  they  lived  under  a  kind  of  oligarchical  government. 


MEXICO   AND   THE   SOUTH   AMERICAN   STATES.         347 

a  fierce  and  brutal  race,  little  calculated,  in  their  best  aspects,  to  excite 
our  sympathy  and  regard.  Their  civilization,  such  as  it  was,  was  not 
their  own,  but  reflected,  perhaps  imperfectly,  from  a  race  whom  they 
had  succeeded  in  the  land.  It  was,  in  respect  to  the  Aztecs,  a  gener 
ous  graft  on  a  vicious  stock,  and  could  have  brought  no  fruit  to  per 
fection.  They  ruled  over  their  wide  domains  with  a  sword,  instead 
of  a  sceptre.  They  did  nothing  to  ameliorate  the  condition  or  in  any 
way  promote  the  progress  of  their  vassals.  Their  vassals  were  serfs, 
used  only  to  minister  to  their  pleasure,  held  in  awe  by  armed  gam- 
sons,  ground  to  the  dust  by  imposts  in  peace,  by  military  conscrip 
tions  in  war. 

"  The  Aztecs  not  only  did  not  advance  the  condition  of  their  vas 
sals,  but,  morally  speaking,  they  did  much  to  degrade  it.  How  can 
a  nation,  where  human  sacrifices  prevail,  and  especially  when  com 
bined  with  cannibalism,  further  the  march  of  civilization  ?  How  can 
the  interests  of  humanity  be  consulted,  where  man  is  levelled  to  the 
ranks  of  the  brutes  that  perish  ?  The  influence  of  the  Aztecs  intro 
duced  their  superstition  into  lands  before  unacquainted  with  it,  or 
where,  at  least,  it  was  not  established  in  any  great  strength.  Tho 
example  of  the  capital  was  contagious.  As  the  latter  increased  in 
opulence,  the  religious  celebrations  were  conducted  with  still  more 
terrible  magnificence — in  the  same  manner  as  the  gladiatorial  shows 
of  the  Romans  increased  in  pomp  with  the  increasing  splendor  of 
the  capital.  Men  became  familiar  with  scenes  of  horror,  and  the 
most  loathsome  abominations.  Women  and  children, — the  whole 
nation, — became  familiar  with  and  assisted  at  them.  The  heart  was 
hardened ;  the  manners  were  made  ferocious ;  the  feeble  light  of  civ 
ilization,  transmitted  from  a  milder  race,  was  growing  fainter  and 
fainter,  as  thousands  and  thousands  of  miserable  victims,  throughout 
the  empire,  were  yearly  fattened  in  its  cages,  sacrificed  on  its  altars, 
dressed  and  served  at  its  banquets !  The  whole  land  was  converted 
into  a  vast  human  shamble !  The  empire  of  the  Aztecs  did  not  fall 
before  its  time." 

"  The  American  Indian  has  something  peculiarly  sensitive  in  his 


34:8  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

nature.  He  shrinks  instinctively  from  the  rude  touch  of  a  foreign 
hand.  Even  when  this  foreign  influence  comes  in  the  form  of  civili 
zation,  he  seems  to  sink  and  pine  away  beneath  it.  It  has  been  so 
with  the  Mexicans.  Under  the  Spanish  domination,  their  numbers 
have  silently  melted  away.  Their  energies*  are  broken.  They  no 
longer  tread  their  mountain-plains  with  the  conscious  independence 
of  their  ancestors.  In  their  faltering  step,  and  meek  and  melancholy 
aspect,  we  read  the  sad  characters  of  the  conquered  race." 

The  earliest  insurrection  of  modern  Mexico  against  Spanish  rule, 
occurred  in  1809,  headed  by  Hidalgo  and  Allendo.  Its  real  object 
was  not,  however,  the  establishment  of  a  republic,  but  an  abortive 
attempt  to  reserve  to  Ferdinand  VII.  a  portion  of  his  dominions 
whose  sovereignty  in  Spain  had  been  alienated  to  France.  Subse 
quent  commotions  took  place,  when  something  like  a  democratic, 
basis  of  government  was  projected,  but  rejected  by  Iturbide,  who,  ii 
1822,  was  declared  emperor  by  the  people,  but  who,  before  a  new 
order  of  government  could  be  organized,  was,  as  he  deserved  to  be, 
deposed  and  banished ; — he  was  but  a  military  usurper. 

In  1824,  Mexico  became  a  republic,  and  a  federal  constitution  was 
adopted.  General  Victoria  was  elected  the  first  President,  and  ho 
has  been  succeeded  by  such  men  as  Pedraza,  Guerrero,  Bustamente, 
Santa  Anna,  Herrera,  and  Paredes,  as  Presidents  or  Dictators,  at  best, 
with  scarcely  an  exception,  rival  military  adventurers.  Actua-ted  by 
no  higher  motives  than  those  of  personal  aggrandizement,  they  mani 
fested  no  patriotism  above  party  purposes,  and  but  little  conscience 
above  self-interest.  Having  no  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the  peo 
ple,  they  relied  upon  no  security  except  military  rule,  and  this  wa> 
made  subject  to  the  greatest  treachery,  or  to  the  greatest  cunning. 

We  have  a  glimpse  of  her  political  condition  in  the  following : 

"  The  unfortunate,  miserably  governed  Mexico,  when  she  emerge'  L 
from  her  revolution,  had  in  her  history  nothing  of  representative  gov 
ernment,  habeas  corpus,  or  trial  by  jury;  no  progressive  experiment 
tending  to  a  glorious  consummation  ;  nothing  but  a  government  call 
ing  itself  free,  with  the  least  possible  freedom  in  the  world.  She 


MEXICO  AND  THE  SOUTH  AMEKICAN  STATES.         349 

had  collected,  since  her  independence,  three  hundred  millions  of  dol 
lars,  and  had  unprofitably  expended  it  all  in  putting  up  one  revolution 
and  putting  down  another,  and  in  maintaining  an  army  of  forty 
thousand  men,  in  time  of  peace,  to  keep  the  peace."* 

The  pictures  we  have  of  social  life  in  Mexico  are  revolting  to  con 
template.  The  Mexicans  are,  as  a  people,  a  nation  of  swindlers, 
thieves,  and  murderers.  Their  vacillating  government  has  proved 
false  to  eveiy  sacred  trust,  has  impoverished  the  country,  debased  the 
people,  countenanced  crime,  engendered  civil  war,  and  tolerated 
treason.  It  has  ignored  all  progress,  neglected  education,  and  dis 
couraged  domestic  industry.  The  only  party  that  thrives  in  the 
midst  of  all  this  moral  desolation,  is  the  Romish  priesthood.  To  them 
belongs  a  large  portion  of  the  real  wealth  of  the  country.  There 
are  in  the  city  of  Mexico  alone,  some  eight  hundred  secular,  and 
about  two  thousand  regular  Romish  clergy.  They  take  care  of  the 
money,  and  do  their  utmost  to  get  it,  even  from  the  most  abject,  at 
the  expense  of  suffering  need.  It  is  said-  there  is  more  gross  licen 
tiousness  and  vice  in  Mexico  than  in  any  other  country  on  the  globe. 
The  Romish  Church  has  nowhere  so  corrupt  a  priesthood.  What 
moral  lesson  are  we  to  gather,  then,  from  the  republic  of  Mexico  ? 
Is  it  not  surprising  that  it  has  existed  so  long — so  racked  with  dis 
cordant  elements,  and  so  effete  and  demoralized  with  crime  ? 

Peru  is  believed  to  have  been  founded  about  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  by  Manco  Capac,  the  first  of  the  race  of  the  Incas. 
The  Peruvians  were  in  advance  of  other  aboriginal  tribes,  having 
acquired  some  proficiency  in  architecture,  sculpture,  mining,  agricul 
ture,  etc.  They  knew  something  of  the  arts,  for  they  constructed 
suspension  bridges  over  frightful  ravines,  although  they  had  no  im 
plements  of  iron ;  but  their  forefathers  could  move  blocks  of  stone  as 
huge  as  the  sphinxes  and  Memnons  of  Egypt,  and  had  an  acquaint 
ance  with  astronomy,  several  of  the  useful  arts,  and  various  domestic 
manufactures.  They  were  pagans,  and  the  ruins  of  their  numer 
ous  temples  and  palaces  are  yet  to  be  traced.  The  great  Tem- 

*  Daniel  "Webster. 
16 


350  A  VOICE  TO  AMEEICA. 

pie  of  the  Sun  at  Pachacamac,  the  palace  and  the  fortress  of  the 
Incas,  were  connected  together,  so  as  to  form  one  great  building, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circuit.  Their  code  of  civil  and  religious 

O 

laws  were  favorable  to  morals ;  and  they  did  not,  like  others,  sacrifice 
human  victims  to  propitiate  their  deities.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
Spaniards,  in  1524,  Huana  Capac,  the  reigning  Inca,  and  the  four 
teenth  of  his  order,  was  made  prisoner  and  perfidiously  put  to  death 
by  Pizarro,  the  discoverer  of  the  country,  although  the  poor  captive 
had  paid,  according  to  the  stipulation,  as  much  gold  for  his  ransom 
as  would  fill  the  place  of  his  confinement !  Although  Pizarro  founded 
the  city  of  Lima,  and  had  thought  himself  secure,  yet  several  insurrec 
tions  ensued  with  various  success,  until  the  surrender  and  execution  of 
the  last  of  the  Incas,  in  1562,  when  the  Spanish  rule  was  established. 

The  Sta-te  founded  by  Pizarro  remained  a  dependency  on  the  Span 
ish  crown  until  the  year  1782,  when  an  outbreak  occurred,  and  the 
standard  of  independence  was  reared,  around  which  the  natives  rallied 
with  grea-t  spirit,  and  in  great  numbers.  For  two  years  the  war 
continued  with  alternate  success;  the  enterprise,  however,  finally 
suffered  defeat.  But  these  efforts  were  triumphant  in  1817,  under 
General  San  Martin;  and  in  July,  1821,  the  independence  of  Peru 
was  solemnly  proclaimed,  with  San  Martin  as  Protector.  This  office 
he  resigned,  after  constituting  a  Congress  ;  but  its  inefficiency  soon 
became  apparent.  In  1823,  the  patriots  were  defeated,  the  Congress 
dissolved,  anarchy  predominated,  and  Lima  again  surrendered  to  the 
Spanish  troops.  They  \vere,  shortly  afterwards,  partially  dispossessed 
by  Bolivar,  and  the  Chilians ;  but  Peru,  though  freed  from  Spanish 
subjugation,  was  like  a  vessel  tossed  by  every  casual  wave,  unsafe, 
and  exposed  to  conflicting  dangers. 

The  history  of  Upper  Peru,  better  known  as  Bolivia,  a  name  it 
derives  from  its  great  deliverer — Bolivar — is  briefly  told.  Previously 
to  the  battle  of  Ayachuco,  in  1824,  it  formed  a  part  of  the  vice- 
royalty  of  Buenos  Ayres  ;  but  General  Sucre,  at  the  head  of  the  re 
publicans,  having  then  defeated  the  royalist  troops,  the  independence 
of  the  country  was  effected ;  and  in  the  following  year,  at  the  request 


MEXICO  AND   THE   SOUTH   AMEEICAN   STATES.         351 

of  the  people,  Bolivar  drew  up  its  constitution.  Soon,  however, 
domestic  factions  sprung  up,  the  purity  of  his  motives  were  question 
ed,  and  he  was  suspected  of  aiming  at  a  perpetual  dictatorship.  He 
gave,  however,  a  noble  denial  to  these  unjust  imputations,  by  quelling 
the  disturbances  that  affected  the  State,  and  then  retiring  to  private 
life.  For  a  time  he  was  recalled  to  the  exercise  of  the  chief  authority, 
till  1830,  in  which  year  his  death  occurred.  The  government  is  still 
in  the  hands  of  a  President ;  and  it  may  be  said  this  republic  is,  of 
all  those  of  South  America,  the  best  as  to  its  internal  quiet  and 
prosperity,  for  most  of  them  are,  indeed,  republics  but  in  name. 

It  is  needless  to  fatigue  the  reader  with  historic  details  of  the  several 
independent  States  and  Confederacies  of  Central  and  South  America. 
Grouping  them  together,  we  may  sum  up  the  whole  by  saying,  that 
they  have  been  but  experiments  towards  freedom,  and,  without  excep 
tion,  unsuccessful  experiments.  Knowing  comparatively  little  of  the 
sweets  of  real  liberty,  they  seem  to  be  not  very  ambitious  for  its 
attainment;  but  a  sluggish "supineness  renders  them  insensible  to  its 
value.  An  amusing  illustration  of  this  occurred  not  many  years  ago 
at  Chili.  At  a  dinner  given  to  some  officers  of  an  American  vessel  on 
the  fourth  of  July,  one  of  our  officers  gave  as  a  toast, "  General  Wash 
ington,"  when  a  Chilian  followed  with  "  The  hundred  Washingtons  of 
South  America  !"  In  the  republics  of  South  America,  which  pre 
serve  the  blood  and  the  indolent  pride  of  the  Spaniards,  constitutions 
are  destroyed  hourly,  by  the  will  of  some  Dictator ;  and  the  people, 
after  a  transient  appearance  in  tj^  career  of  civilization,  fall  back 
into  the  darkness  of  barbarism,  and  are  not  even  conscious  that  they 
have  been  free  for  a  day.  Society,  in  short,  stumbles  at  the  first  step 
it  attempts  to  take  forward,  and  falls  helpless  at  the  entrance  of  that 
path  in  which  modern  civilization  springs  forward,  radiant  and 
proud,  to  the  goal.*  While  we,  in  common  with  the  civilized  world, 
have  been  constructing  our  railroads  and  steamships,  many  of  the 
natives  of  these  States  pursue  the  barbarous  custom  of  travelling  on 
the  back  of  a  man,  or  of  a  mule,  and  thus  pursue  journeys  of  several 

*  Malte-Brun. 


352  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

days  across  a  stony  and  rugged  country.  Every  species  of  social 
and  moral  degradation  seems  to  prevail.  The  principal  occupation 
of  the  wealthier  class  consists  in  doing  nothing  ;  that  of  the  majority 
something  worse — surrendering  themselves  to  filthiness  and  vice. 

It  has  been  already  intimated  that  the  superior  progress  in  civili 
zation  of  the  United  States  is  the  fruit  of  the  Protestant  faith.  It  is 
to  the  refining,  elevating,  and  hallowing  influences  of  a  pure  Christi 
anity,  that  we  trace  the  high  developments  of  social  and  civil  order 
to  which  Protestant  America  has  attained.  The  Bible  is  the  bul 
wark  of  a  nation's  safety  and  success.  Need  we  proofs,  we  have  the 
fact  amply  illustrated  in  the  comparative  civilizations  of  the  northern 
and  southern  portions  of  our  own  continent. 

A  few  men  land,  one  by  one,  on  the  shores  of  North  America,  poor, 
humble,  and  unknown  ;  they  bring  with  them  but  one  book,  the  Bible; 
they  open  it  on  the  rocky  strand,  and  begin  immediately  to  construct 
their  infant  community  or  commonwealth  in  accordance  with  its  sa 
cred  order,  subordinating  all  to  its  claims.  Their  sympathies  and  aims 
are  one  in  the  common  faith,  and  hope  of  its  teachings.  Amid  the 
frosts  of  winter,  and  on  a  rugged,  sterile  soil,  yet  are  they  all  undis 
mayed. 

"  See  the  calmness  and  boldness  of  these  men  :  we  discover  in  the 
constitution  of  this  rising  empire,  the  fire  of  Luther  united  with  the 
coolness  of  Calvin.  Fancy  pictures  the  scene  all  glowing  with  Chris 
tian  beauty  and  heroism ;  with  the  sound  of  the  axe  and  hammer, 
mingles  the  chant  of  a  psalm.  Qlleir  firm  faith  in  the  favor  of  their 
God  renders  them  indifferent  to  dread  of  the  desolate  wilderness. 
The  light  of  Heaven  sanctifies  their  toil ;  and  by  a  sort  of  social  mir 
acle  the  wilderness,  and  the  solitary  place,  is  made  to  blossom  as  the 
rose.  Where  once  was  the  rude  wigwam  of  the  savage,  we  now  be 
hold  thousands  of  cities,  towns,  and  hamlets,  filled  with  the  abodes  of 
peace  and  plenty. 

"  Look  we  on  another  picture.  The  proud  monarchy  of  Spain  sends 
her  stately  viceroy  and  armament,  accompanied  with  the  sanctions'  and 
pomp  of  Rome,  to  a  country  and  a  clime  of  luxuriant  fertility,  and  which 


MEXICO  AND  THE   SOUTH  AMERICAN  STATES.        353 

is  known  to  abound  in  the  precious  metals.  As  if  to  render  the  contrast 
of  circumstances  the  more  convincing,  nature  herself  seems  to  echo 
to  her  Maker's  voice.  In  order  that  the  test  may  be  the  more  decisive, 
every  physical  advantage  seems  to  be  in  favor  of  the  mission  of  Ro 
manism.  But  while  all  around  is  grand  and  gigantic,  glowing  with 
exuberant  life  and  fertility,  man  is  here  in  weakness,  imbecility,  and 
vice.  He  is  under  the  vassalage  of  a  spiritual  thraldom,  which  effect 
ually  prevents  the  development  of  his  moral  and  intellectual  nature. 
To  all  the  noble  incentives  to  action  he  is  alike  indifferent ;  he  is  the 
victim  of  supineness,  indolence,  and  immorality. 

"  What  means  this  wondrous  sterility  in  a  new  world,  except  that 
the  idea  brought  thither  had  given  elsewhere  all  its  fruit ;  that  Ro 
manism,  essentially  conservative  during,  three  ages,  has  lost  power  of 
impulse — the  creative  spirit ;  and  that,  henceforth,  she  is  incapable  of 
giving  to  the  wide  expanse  the  word  alone  pregnant  of  a  new  social 
world  ;  that  her  soul,  imprisoned  in  the  cathedrals  of  the  mediaeval 
ages,  has  no  longer  the  strength  of  divine  tempests  to  purify  chaos  and 
baptize  continents. 

"  Let  these  nations  of  the  South  do  wjaat  they  will,  they  end  inevi 
tably  by  realizing  in  their  government  the  ideal  which  they  have  in 
scribed  on  their  state  religion,  that  is,  absolute  power.  All  they  can 
do  is  to  change  dictators,  and  thus  we  see  them  succeed  in  nothing 
but  in  tightening  the  bands  of  their  thraldom.  Progressive  punish 
ment  !  South  America  lies  as  it  were  at  the  foot  of  a  vast  upas-tree, 
ever  distilling  its  torpor,  while  the  trunk,  rooted  in  another  continent, 
remains  visible."* 

"  The  Spaniards,  in  spite  of  unexampled  barbarities,  which  have 
covered  them  with  lasting  shame,  have  not  succeeded  in  exterminat 
ing  the  Indian  race,  nor  even  in  hindering  their  sharing  their  rights. 
The  Americans  of  the  United  States  have  attained  this  double  result, 
with  a  wonderful  facility  ;  quietly,  legally,  philanthropic-ally,  without 
bloodshed,  without  violating,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  any  of  the 
great  principles  of  morality ."f 

*  M.  Quinet.  t  De  Tocqueville. 


354  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

If  respect  for  its  laws  be  the  test  of  the  morality  of  a  country,  tho 
South  American  States  will  be  found  miserably  bankrupt  in  this  par 
ticular  :  for  hardly  a  day  passes  that  is  not  the  witness  of  the  execu 
tion  of  some  political  offender,  while  "the  United  States  of  North 
America,"  writes  M.  De  Tocqueville,  "  is,  I  think,  the  only  country 
upon  earth,  where,  for  the  last  fifty  years,  not  a  single  individual  has 
been  put  to  death  for  political  crimes.  There  is  not  a  single  manu 
factory  in  Buenos  Ayres  that  takes  advantage  of  the  products  of  the 
soil :  thus  the  country  grows  poorer  and  poorer.*  It  is  the  same  in 
all  the  republics  of  South  America.  The  laws  are  wholly  inopera 
tive  to  suppress  crime,  consequently  vices  of  the  most  hideous  and 
revolting  character  obtain  to  an  alarming  extent.  The  social  rela 
tions  of  life  are  in  a  state  of  moral  putrefaction — the  most  extreme 
licentiousness  prevails,  and  society  exists  only  in  name  ;  its  phases  are 
as  dark  and  degraded  as  in  pagan  lands.  What  a  fearful  responsibil 
ity,  then,  must  attach  to  that  pre.tended  system  of  religion  which, 
having  absolute  will  over  the  minds  and  property  of  the  people,  can 
sanction  and  perpetuate  such  a  state  of  things ! 

The  South  American  "  republics"  teach  the  people  of  the  United 
States  the  evils  of  a  corrupt  religion  connected  with  the  State,  and 
the  fearful  consequences  of  intestine  broils.  Every  month  witnesses 
a  revolution  in  some  one  of  these  distracted  countries ;  and  in  the 
objectless  struggles,  neighbors  and  relatives  imbue  each  other's  hands 
in  fraternal  blood.  Military  executions  constantly  take  place,  and  the 
patriot,  and  the  ignorant  victim  of  designing  usurpers,  are  shot  like 
dogs,  and  consigned  to  the  earth.  The  imagination  cannot  compre 
hend  the  future  of  these  countries  ;  they  seem  every  year  to  fall  lower 
and  lower  in  the  scale  of  civilization.  Arts,  commerce,  and  the  fruits 
of  peace  are  decaying  away.  Nothing  flourishes,  but  the  processions 
— the  feast-days — the  pomps  and  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  Church. 

*  M.  D'Orbigny. 


AMERICA,  THE  THEATRE  OF  THE  GREAT 
DEMONSTRATION. 

*'  Into  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  which  Europe  has  reached  only  through  such  slow  and  painful 
Steps,  we  sprang  at  once,  by  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  by  the  establishment  of  free 
representative  government ;  government,  borrowing  more  or  less  ffom  the  models  of  other  free 
States,  but  strengthened,  secured,  and  improved  in  their  symmetry,  and  deepened  in  their  founda 
tion,  by  those  great  men  of  our  own  country,  whose  names  will  be  as  familiar'  to  future  times  as 
if  they  were  written  on  the  arch  of  the  sky."— WEBSTER.  . 

IT  must  strike  every  reflective  mind,  that  ours  is  no  history  of 
mere  chance,  or  even  of  simple  fortune.  This  gigantic  country, 
stretched  between  so  many  parallels  of  latitude,  its  shores  washed 
by  the  two  great  oceans  of.  the  world,  its  past  so  wonderful,  its  pres 
ent  so  great  with  mighty  promises, — this  America  does  not  exist 
without  a  purpose,  as  if  the  careless  hand  of  Chance  had  origi 
nated  it,  with  no  designed  place  among  the  other  countries  of  the 
world,  and  no  grand  promise  to  perform  for  the  regeneration  of  man 
kind.  It  is  not  possible,  even  for  him  who  affects  to  disbelieve  in 
the  providence  and  the  power  of  a  God,  to  imagine  that  an  exist 
ence  like  ours  ever  sprung  out  of  the  chaos  of  accident,  or  was  the 
unlooked-for  fruit  of  circumstances  which  never  felt  the  guidance  of 
a  Supreme,  controlling  hand. 

That  wre  are  specially  deputed  to  begin  and  to  carry  out  success 
fully  the  greatest  social  and  political  problem  in  the  world's  destiny, 
is  enough  to  fill  the  breast  of  every  man  with  hope-felt  determina 
tion,  for  it  commands  our  thoughts,  our  energies,  and  our  faith.  The 
sooner  our  citizens  recognize  this  feeling,  the  speedier  and  the  more 
energetic  must  be  the  steps  in  that  great  demonstration  in  which  we 
are  certainly  the  accredited  principals.  If  individuals  have  a  destiny 
marked  out  for  them,  suited  to  the.  inclinations  and  endowments  of 
their  natures, — must  it  not  be  equally  true  that  nations,  made  up 


356  A  VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

of  vast  masses  of  individuals,  with  all  these  same  endowments  and 
inclinations,  have  as  large  a  share  in  the  plans  of  that  Providence 
which  both  rules  and  loves  the  world  ? 

In  our  country,'all  things  are  new;  and  we  ought  heartily  to  thank 
God  for  having  cast  our  lot,  with  this  mighty  experiment,  too,  in  our 
keeping,  in  a  locality  where  the  fetters  that  belong  to  an  old  and 
effete  society  are  not  known.  We  often  speak  of  our  vast  virgin 
soil,  hiding  nutriment  enough  in  its  bosom  to  sustain  the  entire 
population  of  our  globe ;  but  have  we  not  as  good  cause  to  boast 
of  that  fresh  and  virgin-like  way  of  thought,  and  that  childlike  and 
impulsive  style  of  sentiment,  which  hitherto  has  made  the  despots 
and  proud  nobles  of  the  Old  World  regard  us  with  ineffable  disgust, 
but  which  is  now  beginning  to  challenge  real  respect  and  admiration 
everywhere  ? 

Yes, — let  us  thank  God  that  with  us,  in  this  experiment  on  which 
we  have  entered,  all  things  are  new.  Let  us  sing  praises  that  we 
are  neither  hemmed  in  by  any  other  tyranny  than  what  we  are  free 
to  impose  upon  ourselves,  nor  made  timid  by  any  of  those  eternal 
suspicions  which  rob  older  nations  of  their  energy  and  their  peace. 

It  is  sufficiently  apparent  to  even  the  least  attentive  observer,  that 
the  masses  of  Europe  are  fast  growing  restive  under  the  old  yokes 
and  dominions  ;  that  the  instinctive  sentiment  of  manhood  is  rapidly 
rising  and  overgrowing  every  other  idea  in  the  breasts  of  the  gov 
erned  ;  that  the  millions  of  silent  subjects  in  Europe  are  expectant 
of  a  dawn  that  shall  call  on  them  to  rise  from  their  sleep  to  the  free 
dom  of  a  glorious  day.  Who  can  tell  how  much  of  this  is  the  natu 
ral  result  of  our  own  quiet  and  dignified  example  ?  Or  who  will  say 
how  much  these  events  in  the  world  have,  under  God.,  been  hastened 
by  the  steady  and  silent  illumination  which  we  have  been  offering 
for  now  three-fourths  of  a  century  ?  Such  things  as  these  are  evi 
dences  enough  of  the  depth  of  the  sentiment  of  freedom,  native  in 
all  breasts ;  as  well  as  of  the  strength  of  that  influence  which  our 
own  country  must  of  necessity  exert  wherever  her  institutions  are 
generally  known. 


THE  GREAT  DEMONSTRATION.  357 

The  past  history  of  the  world  points  with  an  unerring  finger  to 
America  as  the  nation  where  all  its  old,  and  bloody,  and  unhappy 
experiences,  are  to  be  spoken. of  only  as  things  belonging  to  darker 
times,  to  clouded  intellects,  and  corrupt  hearts ;  where  what  was 
bad  is  forever  to  be  put  behind  us,  and  what  is  good  is  forever  to 
allure  us  along ;  where  oppression  shall  cease  to  be  the  law,  and 
freedom  no  longer  be  the  exception ;  where  those  true  and  lofty  senti 
ments  which  belong  to  the  human  race,  are  henceforth  to  be  allowed 
room  for  indefinite  expansion ;  where  government  is  to  cease  to  be  a 
crushing  process  upon  the  integrity  of  the  heart  and  intellect,  but  is 
to  take  its  very  root  and  sustenance  in  the  intelligent  consent  of  those 
who  are  governed ;  and  where  the  great  truth,  that  peace  is  the  natu 
ral  political  condition  of  the  human  family,  and  love  is  the  loftiest 
and  most  absolute  law,  is  to  be  not  simply  propounded,  but  proved. 

Such  are  the  important  truths  to  the  existence  of  which  we,  as  a 
people,  are  to  testify.  This  is  the  time  for  us  to  bear  willing  testi 
mony,  as  we  are  the  nation  to  whom  the  responsibility  has  been  in 
trusted.  Whether  we  will  or  no,  our  destiny,  our  history,  our  na 
ture,  our  geographical  position,  our  very  inclinations, — all  conspire 
to  point  us  to  our  duty. 

If  we- will  but  take  the  map  and  glance  at  the  present  geographi 
cal  boundaries  of  our  country,  we  shall  see  in  a  moment  what  a  wide 
field  for  carrying  forward  this  great  political  experiment  we  are  in  pos 
session  of.  We  people  a  variety  of  climates,  such  as  no  other  nation 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  ever  held  direct  ownership  in.  Our  soil  is 
calculated  to  furnish  all  the  productions  needed  for  the  comfort  and 
sustenance  of  man.  WTe  lie  between  the  extreme  latitudes  of  the 
temperate  belt  of  the  earth's  surface, — a  position  of  infinite  conse 
quence,  when  considered  in  connection  with  the  world's  past  history ; 
for  it  has  been  said  with  truth,  that  in  none  but  temperate  climates 
have  the  great  deeds  of  human  history  been  performed.  The  state 
ment  is  well  worth  serious  thought :  it  is,  that  nations  only  that  are 
occupants  of  the  temperate  regions  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  ever 
governed  the  world. 

16* 


358  A   VOICE   TO   AMEBICA. 

Let  us  see  how  such  a  statement  is  supported  by  foots : 

Below  the  tropic  of  Capricorn,  there  is  hardly  enough  of  Africa  to 
attract  notice.  South  America  lies  chiefly  between  the  two  tropics, 
and  has  never  brought  forward  any  special  claims  either  on  the  world's 
notice  or  admiration.  Within  the  Arctic  Circle,  there  is  no  better 
hope  held  out  to  the  world ;  nor,  in  fact,  has  it  ever  been  at  all  dif 
ferent  through  the  whole  course  of  history.  Only  one  almost  eternal 
winter  reigns,  against  the  long  torpor  of  which  men  have  but  a  very 
brief  time  to  make  provision,  and  during  which  term,  all  life,  whether 
physical  or  spiritual,  seems  wrapped  in  fatal  lethargy. 

Now,  if  we  leave  these  two  extremes  of  the  earth's  surface,  and 
come  within  the  limits  that  geographically  form  the  temperate  zone, 
we  find,  in  the  first  place,  Asia,  with  a  population  of  from  five  to  six 
hundred  millions,  swarming,  like  .bees  in  a  busy  hive.  What  great 
events  in  the  drama  of  the  world's  history  has  not  Asia  brought 
forth  ?  On  her  prolific  soil  was  set  the  cradle  of  mankind ;  there 
Christ  was  born,  there  he  delivered  his  message  of  love  to  mankind, 
and  there  was  he  at  length  crucified.  There,  too,  were  the  great  and 
powerful  cities  of  antiquity ;  there  lived  and  reigned  David  and  Sol 
omon  ;  tliere  spake  the  Apostles  and  the  Prophets.  The  arts  first 
saw  their  existence  there — and  science,  and  learning,  and  religion. 
In  Asia,  commerce  first  made  men  restless  and  energetic,  and  drove 
them  to  seek  shorter  routes  to  the  parts  of  the  world  beyond  them. 

In  Europe,  the  illustration  is  still  more  complete.  There,  exists  a 
population  numbering  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions,  of  vari 
ous  races  and  languages.  In  resources  of  every  description — physi 
cal,  intellectual,  or  purely  spiritual — that  population  is  astonishingly 
rich.  We  need  but  rehearse  their  deeds,  to  convince  our  reader 
of  the  vast  native  superiority  of  such  a  people  over  all  others  of  the 
Old  World.  We  have  only  to  mention  the  names  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  to  start  in  every  mind  the  right  thoughts  on  this  subject.  Of 
the  world's  great  poets,  who  has  not  heard  of  Virgil  and  Homer? 
Of  her  orators,  to  whom  are  not  the  names  of  Demosthenes  and 
Cicero  familiar  ?  Who  has  not  yet  heard  of  Plato  ?  of  Socrates  ?  of 


THE   GREAT  DEMONSTRATION.  359 

Aristotle  ?  of  Alexander  ?  And  to  whose  ears  are  not  the  sounds  of 
both  Caesar  and  Brutus  like  "  household  words  T 

But  such  an  historical  recital  is  needless.  Every  intelligent  Ameri 
can  citizen  is  well  aware  of  the  truth  of  these  things,  and  how  forcibly 
they  bear  on  the  point  which  we  design  to  illustrate.  All  tend  to  show 
that  over  this  belt  of  the  temperate  zone  have  passed,  from  the  begin 
ning,  the  power,  the  energy,  and  the  promise  of  the  world's  final 
exaltation  and  redemption. 

Exactly  within  this  same  favored  limit,  lies  our  own  country.  The 
United  States  of  North  America  form  a  new  nation  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  We  are  a  people,  likewise,  whose  government,  both  in  its 
form  and  principles,  is  wholly  peculiar.  Nothing  like  it  has  the 
world  ever  seen  or  known  before.  In  developing  the  details  of  such 
a  form  of  government,  we  certainly  have  shown  ourselves,  thus  far, 
both  apt  and  energetic — shrinking  from  no  responsibilities,  and  rising 
to  the  heights  of  heroism  itself  by  the  mere  force  and  fulness  of  faith 
in  our  destiny.  Having  sprung  from  a  race  peculiarly  educated,  by 
means  of  the  experiences  of  the  generations  gone  before,  we  were 
first  fitted,  by  this  wise  dispensation  of  Providence,  for  the  reception 
of  the  broad  and  deep  principles  which  pertain  to  our  civil  existence. 

We  have,  then,  to  say,  in  the  first  place,  respecting  ourselves,  tha-t 
though  perhaps  as  yet  behind  some  of  the  European  countries  in  par 
ticular  fields  of  science,  or  literature,  or  general  learning,  we  may, 
nevertheless,  challenge  the  whole  world  in  fair  comparison  with  our 
people  for  general  intelligence,  for  intellectual  activity,  for  practical 
learning,  for  bold  and  comprehensive  thought,  and  for  striking  and 
energetic  action.  The  Americans  combine  elements  in  their  charac 
ter  that  no  people,  as  a  whole,  ever  possessed  before.  No  sooner 
does  a  new  or  progressive  idea  become  born  in  their  brain,  than  it 
is  forced  into  the  notice  and  approbation  of  the  world. 

See  how  we  cut  the  waters  of  rivers  thousands  of  miles  long,  and 
plough  our  way  majestically  across  the  stormiest  ocean  of  the  globe. 
Count  up  the  almost  interminable  lines  of  railroad  over  which  steam 
is  made  to  whirl  us  every  day,  and  destined  yet  to  lace  a  continent 


360  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

many  times  across.  See  with  what  overwhelming  yet  steady  energy 
we  tunnel  mountains,  skirt  fearful  precipices,  fly  over  rolling  prairies, 
and  drive  on  with  a  noise  of  thunder  to  the  extreme  boundaries  of 
the  broad  continent.  All  this,  too,  the  work  of  a  small  cycle  of 
years.  And  our  experiments  with  electricity — what  amazing  won 
ders  have  been  wrought  in"  the  briefest  breath  of  time !  The  world 
may  well  look  on  astonished,  though  it  hardly  fills  us  at  home  with 
the  same  emotion.  We  comprehend  now  the  answer  to  the  sublime 
question  put  to  Job :  "  Canst  thou  send  lightnings,  that  they  may 
go,  and  say  unto  thee,  'Here  we  are!'"  And  we  feel  that  tins  is 
all  but  an  experiment  as  yet,  and  so  toil  earnestly  on  after  new  victo 
ries,  and  the  achievement  of  still  grander  successes.  We  are  not  yet 
content  with  this  ;  we  are  content  with  nothing.  Our  action  is  fully  up 

o  •/      x 

with  our  national  motto,  that  watchword  of  the  future — "  Onward  !" 

We  have  conquered  earth,  air,  water,  and  lightning  successively. 
We  have  taught  mankind  how  all  things  were  at  the  first  designed 
for  their  happiness  and  comfort,  and  that  nothing  was  wanting  but 
ingenuity  and  energy  to  unlock  the  hidden  treasures  of  a  globe. 
Our  material  greatness  is  not  paralleled  by  that  of  any  nation  in 
existence.  Wealth  has  flooded  our  coffers,  and  enabled  us  gener 
ously  to  offer  a  helping  hand  to  the  less  fortunate  ones  of  the  world. 
Power  has  consequently  increased,  until  we  are  acknowledged  to  bo 
one  of  the  great  nations  of  Christendom — a  nation  on  which  are  fixed 
the  eager  eyes  of  all  mankind.  And,  to  carry  out  the  point  still  fur 
ther,  our  population  has  increased  in  a  ratio  that  seems  really  incom 
prehensible.  The  mind  itself  is  hardly  rapid  enough  to  keep  pace 
with  the  facts  thus  presented.  It  cannot  be  very  long,  at  the  present 
ratio  of  increase,  before  we  shall  have  a  population  on  our  soil  denser 
even  than  that  which  makes  old  China  the  standing  wonder  of  the 
earth.  And  this  crowded  and  busy  people,  alive  to  the  vanquishment 
of  time,  space,  and  matter,  must  be  the  people  from  whose  midst  will 
go  forth  the  manifold  influences  that  are  to  subjugate  all  men  and  all 
things  to  their  high  sway.  We  do  not  contend  that  this  new  gov 
ernment  will  be  in  any  way  related  to  the  tyrannies  that  have  hith- 


THE   GREAT  DEMONSTRATION.  361 

erto  cast  nothing  but  gloomy  shadows  over  the  hearts  of  mankind ; 
nor  that  it  is  to  seize  hold  of  men  and  compel  them  to  obey,  or  even 
to  believe  ;  but  that  in  such  a  government  will  reside  the  spirit  and 
essence  of  freedom,  more  than  any  other  element, — that  it  will  bring 
all  men  eventually  out  of  political  darkness  into  a  world  of  mental 
light, — that  it  will  succeed  everywhere  in  establishing  and  vindica 
ting  individual  manhood, — and  that,  with  their  native  rights  restored 
to  them,  men  will  at  once  feel  new  responsibilities,  and  assert  their 
true  claims  to  all  that  is  high,  and  great,  and  holy  in  their  nature. 

This  is  plainly  our  mission.  Is  it  not  one  of  unsurpassed  grandeur, 
both  in  itself  and  its  results  ?  Power  for  ages  has  gradually  been 
moving  westward,  exactly  through  this  geographical  belt  of  the  earth. 
Each  successive  step  has  been  attended  with  still  more  important 
results.  Every  westward  remove  of  this  power  has  been  marked 
with  the  burning  of  a  still  brighter  light,  and  has  left  behind  it  a 
still  more  luminous  track  for  mankind  to  gaze  upon.  It  has  now 
struck  the  Atlantic  shore  of  North  America,  and,  in  a  space  of  time 
almost  incredible,  has  pushed  its  rapid  way  to  the  Pacific  boundary. 
When  it  leaps  that  ocean,  it  gets  back  on  its  old  ground  again,  and 
thus  in  its  course  the  highest  form  of  civilization  has  girdled  the 
world.  •  . 

Young  and  vigorous  as  America  is,  its  youth  and  vigor  are  not  to 
be  wasted  in  dreams.  Nor  is  there  much  fear,  either,  that  such  will 
be  the  case.  Some  timidly  caution  us  against  going  "  too  fast,"  pro 
fessing  ignorance  of  where  our  destiny  may  lead  us.  That,  however, 
seems  plain  enough  to  a  mind  possessed  of  true  faith.  Our  course  is 
clear ;.  our  mistakes  are  soon  corrected  by  the  aid  of  experience ;  our 
successes  overwhelm  the  warnings  of  the  hopeless,  and  bid  us  on. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  United  States  offer  the  field  for  the  fair 
trial  of  this  great  experiment  of  man.  The  experiment  is, — to  learn 
whether  men  are  of  more  worth  than  things ;  and  if  autocracies, 
and  monarchies,  and  all  tyrannies, — disguise  them  as  you  may, — 
are  not  violent  usurpations  of  the  very  laws  of  existence.  Upon 
our  fortunes  rests  the  destiny  of  the  world.  Our  success  and  our 


362  A  VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

example  are  making  all  peoples  restive  ;  our  moral  strength  is  more 
powerful  than  fleets,  more  dreaded  by  tyrants  than  unnumbered  men 
in  arms.  We  are  to  conquer,  but  not  by  the  sword.  We  arc  to 
subjugate,  but  not  by  violence.  All  nations  are  to  come  under  the 
sway  of  our  principles,  but  never  are  they  to  pass  under  any  yoke. 
All  is  to  be  freedom  and  light,  and  the  eye  is  to  see  as  clearly  as  at 
the  noonday.  Whatever  is  done,  will  be  done  in  the  direction  of  a 
single  purpose:  and  that  is,  the  emancipation  of  our  race.  We  are 
not  working  for  mere  wealth  ;  nor  position  ;  nor  social  consideration ; 
but  while  laboring  for  all  these,  we  are  insensibly  helping  on  the 
great  cause,  and  solving  the  grand  problem  of  a  world's  freedom. 

America — not  even  yet  thinly  populated — is  the  battle-field  where 
the  contest  is  waged  between  the  armies  of  freedom  and  tyranny. 
Every  sign  points  to  this  imposing  fact.  Here  the  last  great  onset 
must  be  made  by  the  phalanxes  of  darkness,  bigotry,  illiberality,  and 
bondages  of  all  descriptions ;  and,  under  God,  if  Americans  are  but 
true  to  themselves  and  their  principles,  here  will  occur  a  glorious 
victory  for  freedom  and  truth — a  victory  having  the  regeneration  of 
man  for  its  object,  and  the  happiness  of  the  universe  for  its  result. 


SECRET  POLITICAL  ASSOCIATIONS, 

THEIR    USE    AND    ABUSE 


"  A  proper  secrecy  is  the  only  mystery  of  able  men  :  mystery  is  the  only  secrecy  of  weak  and 
cunning  ones." — CHESTERFIELD. 

"A  fool's  mouth  is  his  destruction."— SOLOMOX. 


A  GREAT  outcry  has,  of  late,  been  raised  against  the  use  of  Secrecy 
in  political  organization  and  action.  It  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted 
that  a  secret  mode  of  operation  is  sufficient  to  condemn  the  operator 
and  his  work,  with  all  honest  men.  The  prevailing  mode  of  discuss 
ing  the  question  is  so  very  shallow  and  insufficient,  that  we  shall  here 
attempt  to  put  it  in  its  proper  light,  by  considering  the  principle  of 
secrecy  in  human  action,  and  secret  practices  in  American  politics. 

Very  little  argument  is  needed  to  prove,  in  general,  that  Secrecy, 
m  itself,  is  of  an  indifferent  quality,  neither  right  nor  wrong ;  and 
that  it  is  only  the  use  or  abuse  of  it  which  renders  it  good  or  bad. 
Christ  himself  expressly  enjoined  secrecy  in  the  performance  of  good 
deeds,  with  a  force  which  he  could  not  express,  except  by  the  Oriental 
hyperbole  of  commanding  that  the  left  hand  should  not  know  the 
doings  of  the  right.  Neither  such  actions,  nor  the  personal  religious 
exercises  of  his  disciples,  were  to  be  spoken  of  or  known  farther  than 
was  unavoidable.  Such  concealment  was  practised  by  the  Great 
Master  himself.  Again  ;  how  many  human  beings  would  like  to  be 
deprived  of  the  use  of  secrecy  ?  What  would  become  of  the  shrewd  • 
enterprises  of  business  men,  if  they  could  not  keep  their  secrets  until 
they  are  ripe  ?  How  endurable  would  it  be  to  men  in  general,  to 


364:  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

know  that  all  their  memories  and  all  their  hopes — the  faults  they 
would  fain  forget,  and  the  plans  they  would  fain  pursue — were  to  be, 
seen  and  known  of  all  men?  As  long  as  there  are  individual  in 
terests  and  human  imperfections,  so  long  must  secrecy  be  an  iudis  • 
pensable  ingredient  of  human  life.  If  the  world  were  perfect — whicl 
would  make  it  heaven — secrecy  would  be  needless.  Until  then,  it  i> 
not  only  proper  and  useful,  but  absolutely  indispensable ;  although, 
like  every  thing  else,  it  may  be  perverted  to  wrong  uses. 

Without  further  inquiry  into  a  truth  so  abstract,  and  so  unlikely 
to  be  denied,  the  proposition  may  now  be  laid  down,  that  Reform* 
(real  or  pretended)  directed  against  powerful  existing  interests,  begin 
with  Secrecy.  Secrecy  was  the  cradle  of  Christianity — the  greatest 
Reform  movement  the  world  ever  saw.  Christ  himself  trusted  in  his 
Divinity;  and  knew  that  before  his  time  no  hands  would  be  laid  on 
him.  Yet  how  often  did  he  conceal  himself  from  his  enemies,  once 
even  by  a  direct  exercise  of  miraculous  power?  And  after  his  death, 
it  is  a  fact  as  notorious  as  any  in  the  whole  range  of  history,  that 
without  a  practice  of  concealment  more  elaborate  and  profound, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  ever  known,  the  new-born  faith  would  have 
been  exterminated  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  simply  by  the  mur 
der  of  every  professor  of  it.  For  years  and  years  together,  every 
discoverable  Christian  had  forthwith  to  choose  between  apostasy 
and  death.  The  reason  is  clear.  Christianity  was  held  to  be  at 
enmity,  first  with  the  established  religion  of  the  Jews,  the  most 
ferocious  and  unrelenting  of  bigots,  and  afterwards  with  the  Roman 
Imperial  Power,  the  greatest  existing  interest  on  earth/"  At  the  be 
ginning,  the  weak  young  twig  had  to  be  hidden  from  the  destruction 
with  which  all  the  powers  of  the  earth  menaced  it.  But  as  it  grew 
up  into  a  noble  tree,  it  -threw  off  its  cloak  of  secrecy.  It  retains  it, 
however,  even  to  the  present  day,  in  countries  under  the  domination 
of  savage  Paganisms,  or  scarcely  less  savage  Romanism. 

The  lesser  reform  movements  before  the  great  Protestant  Reforma- 

*  De  Quincy,  Hist,  and  Grit.  Essays,  vol.  ii.  Secret  Societies,  p.  33S. 


SECEET  POLITICAL   ASSOCIATIONS.  365 

tion  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  indeed  that  Reformation  itself,  took 
more  or  less  refuge  in  secret  investigation  and  secret  communion ; 
and  for  the  same  reason,  viz.,  that  open  profession  would  have  endan 
gered  the  whole  movement.  Luther,  proclaiming  aloud  his  earliest 
doubts  of  the  Romish  doctrines,  wTould  have  suddenly  and  silently 
disappeared.  Indeed,  it  was  only  a  like  disappearance  into  the 
friendly  concealment  of  the  Wartburg,  that  saved  him  from  the 
actual  gripe  of  the  iron-handed  Church  of  Rome.  "Wicliffites  and 
Hussites,  wherever  they  could  be  hunted  out,  followed  the  fiery  path 
to  Heaven  trod  by  their  bold  teachers,  whose  Reformations  were  sub 
stantially  quenched  in  blood. 

The  Romish  Church  is  a  secret  organization.  It  distinctly  claims, 
and  always  attempts  (and  has  too  often  succeeded),  to  over-influence 
and  thoroughly  control  and  direct  all  civil  governments.  For  this 
purpose,  as  well  as  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  a  good  hold  upon  the 
people  at  large,  its  constitution  has  always-  been  essentially  secret. 
It  has  operated  through  mystic  forms.  It  uses  an  unknown  tongue 
in  its  ritual.  It  wields  a  secret  influence  through  the  confessional. 
It  centralizes  its  power  in  the  hands  of  one  man,  and  so  proceeds  that 
the  masses  of  lay  members,  who  are  the  basis  of  that  power,  are 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  mode  of  its  use.  The  two  great  instruments, 
moreover,  of  the  Romish  Church — the  two  griping  talons  which  serve 
it  as  his  two  great  claws  serve  the  lobster,  to  seize,  hold,  and  crush 
its  victims — are  the  Jesuits  and  the  Inquisition.  The  Jesuit  claw  is 
for  governments  and  nations,  the  inquisitorial  claw  for  individuals. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  show  how  secrecy  is  the  very  life  and  breath  of 
these  wicked  engines.  They  could  no  more  live  or  work  without  it, 
than  a  fish  could  breathe  without  water. 

This  secret  plotting  of  the  Romish  Church,  and  the  secret  manoeu 
vring  of  its  two  ministering  spirits,  have  become  so  notoriously  and 
undisputedly  believed,  that  they  serve  to  supply  some  of  the  com 
monest  and  most  forcible  words  of  the  English  tongue.  Seek  out  a 
name  for  some  false  and  treacherous  proceeding ;  for  some  revoltingly 
tyrannical  'piece  of  oppression  under  forms  of  legal  inquiry ;  or  for 


366  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

the  man  guilty  of  such  things; — the  proceedings,  you  say,  are  a 
Jesuitical  plot ;  or  they  are  an  Inquisitorial  proceeding.  The  man  is 
a  Jesuit ;  a  crafty,  Jesuitical  fellow.  Fasten  those  names  on  him  01 
his  schemes,  and  whatever  an  ill  name  can  do,  is  done. 

Yet  notwithstanding  this  secret  character — perhaps  we  should  say, 
according  to  it — the  Romish  Church  has  invariably  sought  to  destroy 
all  secret  organizations  not  professedly  subordinate  to  it,  by  arms  spirit 
ual  and  temporal — sometimes  by  cursing,  and  sometimes  by  burning. 
The  Freemasons  were  excommunicated  by  a  Bull  of  Clement  XII. 
Freemasonry  has  been  the  crime  for  which  many  victims  of  the 
Roman  Inquisition  have  died  in  the  fire,  or  suffered  torture  and  con 
fiscation.  The  purely  literary  or  philosophical  Illuminati  and  Rosi- 
crucians  in  Germany,  the  Carbonari  in  Italy  and  France,  the  Free 
masons  and  Odd-Fellows  everywhere,  have  operated  under  open 
opposition,  and  even  actual  persecution. 

To  leave  organizations  distinctively  religious — The  Illuminati  and 
Rosicrucians,  although  they  proposed  only  philosophical  investiga 
tions,  or  the  moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  their  members, 
yet  used  doctrines  so  liberal  as  not  to  be  orthodox  in  the  estimation 
of  established  governments  ;  and  therefore  necessarily  worked  secretly, 
as  long  as  they  existed.  The  United  Irishmen,  who  aimed  at  estab 
lishing  an  independent  government  in  Ireland,  worked  in  the  pro- 
foundest  secrecy ;  were  a  terrible  bugbear  to  the  English  government, 
and  were  finally  suppressed  by  it.  The  Italian  Carbonari,  as  well  as 
their  successors  who  are  yet  seeking  the  freedom  of  Italy,  held  their 
lives  in  their  hand.  They  existed,  as  they  yet  exist,  only  because 
the  Romish  despots  of  the  Peninsula  could  not  find  them.  Patriot 
Republicans,  seeking  the  freedom  of  Hungary,  yet  live  amidst  the 
oppressive  and  penetrating  espionage  of  Austrian  soldiers  and  Aus 
trian  pettifoggers,  solely  by  secrecy.  The  bullet,  or  the  hangman's 
rope,  would  be  their  portion  within  the  day  of  their  discovery. 

But  it  is  needless  to  multiply  instances.  In  religious,  politico- 
religious,  and  political  movements  alike,  for  purposes  good  or  bad, 
in  every  case  when  they  have  directly  or  indirectly  oppose^  strong 


SECRET   POLITICAL   ASSOCIATIONS.  367 

constituted  interests,  secrecy  has  been  an  element.  Especially,  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  name  an  important  political  enterprise,  successful 
or  not,  which  has  not  been  nursed  under  a  secret  shadow.  Our  own 
history  informs  us,  that  the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  sat  with  CLOSED  DOORS  from  the  25th  of  May, 
to  the  17th  of  September  following. 

Few  words,  indeed,  are  more  familiar  to  the  reader  of  history,  than 
plot  and  conspiracy.  We  barely  suggest  the  English  Revolution  of 
1688  ;  the  Irish  revolutionary  efforts  from  1780  to  1848  ;  the  various 
French  Revolutions ;  the  Hungarian  Revolution  ;  the  Italian,  German, 
and  other  Continental  Revolutions  of  1848;  the  periodical  pop-gun 
revolutions  of  Mexico  and  South  America ;  and  our  own  Revolution 
of  1776.  The  beginnings  of  such  enterprises,  according  to  the  Greek 
fable,  must  be  hidden,  as  the  baby  Jupiter  was  on  Mount  Ida,  other 
wise  they  will  be  swallowed  up  by  the  powers  that  be ;  as  Saturn, 
the  constituted  authority  of  the  period,  swallowed  up  all  Jupiter's 
little  brothers  and  sisters ;  and  for  a  like  reason.  The  old  monster 
knew  that  it  was  foretold  that  one  of  them  should  supersede  him. 
But  when  the  new-born  power  has  strength  enough  to  proceed 
openly,  it  does  as  Jupiter  did — it  vigorously  assaults  and  dethrones 
the  wicked  Titans. 

In  the  political  management  of  the  present  day,  more  peaceful 
phases  of  the  spirit  which  operated  the  bloody  plots  of  old  times,  yet 
prevail.  Secret  political  machinations  are  perhaps  as  numerous,  and 
as  harmful,  in  our  free  nation,  as  in  any  other.  Our  parties  originate 
in  secret  scheming,  and  are  managed  by  secret  scheming.  Who 
knows  the  facts  of  the  political  life  of  any  leading  politician  of  the 
present  century? — how. he  secured  a  nomination;  arranged  with  the 
"friends"  of  this  or  that  rival;  secured  the  support  of  this  or  that 
leading  newspaper  ?  Mackenzie's  notorious  Collection  of  Letters  is  a 
series  of  confidential  communications  passing  among  the  set  of  New 
York  politicians,  of  whom  Martin  Van  Buren  was  one.  It  furnishes 
a  great  mass  of  details  relating  to  the  mingled  threads  of  their  per 
sonal  and  political  fortunes,  as  unreservedly  discussed  among  them- 


368  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

selves.  That  collection,  embracing  many  documents  referring  to  the 
lives  and  fortunes  of  Van  Buren,  Hoyt,  Swartwout,  B.  F.  Butler,  Cam- 
breleng,  and  the  numerous  tribe  of  their  allies  and  followers,  furnishes 
the  best  illustration  ever  yet  published,  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of 
American  politicians.  And  throughout  the  long  and  tortuous  series 
of  transactions  of  which  it  treats,  it  is  secrecy  always,  and  inviolable, 
which  is  assumed  to  be  the  cloak  and  necessary  medium  of  all  the 
enterprises  and  combinations. 

Was  it  open  management  that  organized  the  opposition  that  lat 
terly  arose  against  Washington's  administration,  under  the  name  of 
the  Republican  party  ?  Was  it  open  management  that  nearly  made 
Aaron  Burr  President  of  the  United  States  ?  Is  it  open  management 
that  at  the  present  day  presents  candidates  for  the  suffrages  of  Ameri 
can  freemen?  Did  open  management  nominate  Polk  or  Pierce  for 
the  Presidency  ?  Who  knows,  indeed,  how  his  own  State  Governor 
was  nominated  and  chosen ;  how  many  sly  bargains  and  private 
schemes  were  contrived  and  executed  to  complete  the  present  organi 
zation  of  any  State  Legislature  ?  Who  knows  even  the  precise  mode 
in  which  were  selected  and  appointed  the  municipal  government  of 
his  town  or  city,  and  the  business  committees  under  it,  or  even  the 
officers  of  his  school  district  ?  Who  knows  precisely  how  arc  origin 
ated  and  carried  through  such  measures  as  the  Nebraska  Bill ;  the 
Collins  Mail  Appropriation ;  or  any  other  of  the  public  or  private 
measures  that  yearly  are  enacted  by  Congress  ?  Who  knows  how  the 
State  Legislature  is  guided ;  or  how  the  vote  in  town  meeting  or  city 
council,  for  or  against  a  sewer  or  a  park,  is  arranged  ?  It  is  not 
claimed  that  nobody  knowrs,  by  any  means.  A  few  know  ;  and  these 
few  take  very  good  care  not  to  tell.  The  main  body  of  voters  DO 
NOT  KNOW  how  or  why  the  men  for  whom  they  vote,  were  set  up  for 
suffrage. 

It  is  true  that  the  old  political  parties,  in  their  "  nominating  con 
ventions,"  proceed  with  open  doors ;  speeches  are  made,  and  resolu 
tions  adopted,  but  all  this  machinery  amounts  to  nothing  more  than 
the  mere  publication  of  the  acts  of  secret  committees,  the  moving 


SECRET  POLITICAL  ASSOCIATIONS.  369 

cause  ana  reason  for  the  resolves  being  unknown  and  unseen.  When 
the  great  elections  are  pendiag,  does  not  each  party  have  its  secret 
agents  in  Washington — meeting  in  dark  conclave — flooding  the 
country  with  sealed  packages  ?  And  does  not  the  party  in  power 
carefully  keep  the  key  of  the  Post-office?  Is  not  then  the  finger 
pressed  on  the  lips?  "  Say  nothing  !"  "  Keep  dark  !"  These  and 
other  cabalistic  words,  with  all  the  mysterious  inuendos  of  conspiracy, 
are  uttered  with  low  tones  and  smothered  breath ;  and  all  justified, 
commended,  practised,  and  applauded.  What,  then,  is  there  so 
strange  in  the  practice  of  the  American  party,  desiring  to  keep  its 
own  secrets  ? 

Secret  management,  by  the  retention  of  these  "State  secrets"  in 
the  hands  of  a  few  astute  men,  who  handle  the  caucus  and  conven 
tion  machinery,  the  parties  through  it,  and  the  nation  through  the 
parties ;  is  the  whole  essence  of  political  operations  in  the  United 
States.  Indeed,  our  political  parties  belong  to  tlje  most  perfect  spe 
cies  of  secret  organizations,  because  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army 
do  not  know  its  leaders. 

The  conclusions  thus  far  reached  in  this  chapter  are  these  : 

1.  Secrecy  is  indifferent  in  itself,  and  good  or  bad  according  to  the 
use  which  'is  made  of  it. 

2.  Secrecy  is  often  necessary  in  the  beginnings  of  reformatory  en 
terprises  which  interfere  with  established  interests. 

3.  Secrecy  is  an  established  and  universal  element  in  the  usual 
course  of  American  politics. 

The  American  Party  is  young.  It  has  grown  to  its  present  stature 
by  the  spontaneous  gathering  of  the  people  to  its  standard,  rather 
than  by  the  efforts  of  any  apostles.  Its  strength  has  come  volun 
tarily  from  either  of  the  two  great  parties,  or  from  the  increasing  host 
of  political  sectarians  or  neutrals.  The  active  enmity  of  all  these  it 
naturally  would  and  did  incur.  The  masses  of  these  established 
organizations  were  not  altogether  opposed,  as  the  success  of  the  new- 


370  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

comer  shows,  to  its  principles :  but  the  leaders  of  them  were  in  the 
unhappy  case  of  a  sleeping  cur  whose  tajl  is  pinched.  They  jumped 
up  in  a  fury,  and  barked  at  all  creation.  But  they  did  no  execution, 
because  they  did  not  know  where  the  trouble  came  from.  Under 
such  irritating  circumstances,  it  is  perfectly  natural  that  they  should 
indulge  in  condemnations  of  the  very  practices  which  are  the  basis 
of  their  own  influence.  People  seldom  relish  being  attacked  with 
their  own  weapons.  Their  editorial  yokefellows  were  in  the  same 
difficulty,  and  were  further  annoyed  at  the  slight  put  upon  their  pro 
fessional  importance.  They  could  not  discover  the  facts  about  this 
new  movement,  either  for  their  personal  gratification,  for  paragraphs 
and  editorials  in  the  paper,  or  for  the  use  of  "  the  party."  They  con 
sidered  that  they  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  know  every  thing  first, 
and  to  tell  it  or  not,  at  their  discretion ;  and  here  was  something  of 
which  they  seemed  doomed  to  know  nothing,  first  or  last,  except  by 
its  results.  So  they  very  generally  joined  in  the  outcry.  It  was  to 
be  expected  that  editors,  shut  out  from  all  participation,  would  revile 
an  organization  that  they  knew  nothing  about ;  and  that  politicians, 
with  their  legs  knocked  from  under  them  by  invisible  blows,  should 
cry  out  in  distress  as  they  fell  into  the  pit  which  their  own  hands 
had  prepared. 

No  one  doubts,  however,  that  the  safety  ensuing  upon  this  mode 
of  action  has,  in  fact,  saved  the  American  Party  from  very  great  dan 
gers,  if  not  from  destruction.  It  has  confounded  and  confused  all 
measures  of  opposition.  If  there  had  in  the  beginning  been  open 
proselyting,  importunate  grasping  after  disciples,  and  all  the  ordinary 
"  advertising  department"  of  new  enterprises,  would  not  the  usual 
party  discipline  have  sufficed  to  keep  the  new  party  down,  and  the 
old  ones  together  ?  There  would  have  been  a  great  blustering  show 
of  argument  for  some,  and  of  threats  and  promises  for  others.  But 
these  accustomed  weapons  were  useless,  because  the  enemy  was  invi 
sible.  There  may  have  been  very  many  errors  in  the  practical  details 
of  the  plans  adopted  to  secure  this  secrecy.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
claim  perfection  for  human  productions.  But  this  secret  mode  of 


SECRET  POLITICAL   ASSOCIATIONS.  371 

operating,  if  the  history  of  our  political  parties  is  authority,  is  in  itself 
proper  and  defensible. 

Secrecy  is  not  a  necessary  constituent  principle  of  the  American 
Party.  Secrecy  is  an  old  abuse — an  established  vicious  practice  of 
the  old  parties.  It  was  a  temporary  necessity  of  the  new  party.  But 
if  the  American  Party  has  any  mission  in  this  respect,  it  is  to  break 
up  the  secret  mode  of  operating,  and  to  introduce  a  new  and  open 
mode  of  political  action.  It  proposes  to  destroy  the  old  irresponsive 
despotism  which  has  been  exercised  over  the  masses  of  the  people, 
and  to  introduce  the  present  generation,  for  the  first  time,  to  a  free 
democratic  practice  in  self-government.  The  American  Party  pro 
claims  the  New  Era  of  Government  by  the  Intelligent  Action  of 
American  Freemen.  This  is  now,  in  effect,  a  new  principle.  This 
Intelligent  Action  is  a  necessary  constituent  principle  of  the  new 
party.  And  by  just  so  much  as  the  members  of  it  are  more  intelli 
gent,  by  as  much  the  permanent  maintenance  of  the  secret  mode  of 
operation  is  less  practicable.  Accordingly,  the  approaching  end  of 
this  state  of  things  is  shown  by  the  many  and  significant  secessions, 
and  threats  of  secession,  which  are  already  dividing  the  Party  in 
various  States.  Now,  therefore,  the  American  Party  needs  carefully 
to  consider  whether  henceforward  an  open  activity — a  new  thing  in 
American  politics — is  not  its  necessary  condition  of  success.  This 
"  unprecedented  attraction"  will  be  much  more  potent  than  the  veil 
of  a  concealment  which,  after  all,  is  enticing  to  the  weak-minded 
rather  than  attractive  to  the  wise. 

The  American  Party  has  not  been  organized  to  take  advantage  of 
secrecy,  as  if  it  were  a  newly  discovered  method  of  political  operation. 
It  has  been  organized  to  work  against  secret  political  organizations, 
namely,  the  old  political  parties,  and  the  Romish  Church.  It  does 
not  attempt  to  introduce  an  unjustifiable  new  mode  of  political 
management ;  it  proposes  to  destroy  an  unjustifiable  old  mode.  It  is 
already  contrasted  with  the  old  parties  by  its  free  and  bold  avowal 
of  that  secret  mode  of  operation  which  they  used  without  avowing  it. 
It  now  has  an  opportunity  to  cast  away  even  this  avowed  secrecy,  and 


372  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

to  enlist  our  voters  into  a  great  and  new  party — a  united,  intelligent, 
free  and  open  organization  of  American  freemen,  expressing  their 
own  views  and  wishes  as  to  the  government  of  their  own  country ; 
when  that  shall  have  been  accomplished — America  will  be  redeemed, 
not  from  Popish  Jesuits  only,  but  from  political  Jesuits  as  well.  Then 
will  be  inaugurated  the  dominion  of  true  political  freedom ;  of  which 
there  is  practically  none,  to-day,  in  these  United  States. 


THE  AMERICAN  REPUBLIC,  THE  HOPE  OF  THE  .WORLD. 

"  The  preservation  of  the  sacred  fire  ef  Liberty,  and  the  perpetuation  of  the  Republican  model 
of  government,  were  considered  by  its  founders  as  finally  staked  on  the  experiment  intrusted  to 
the  hands  of  the.  American  people." 

"WASHIXGTOX. 

OCRS  is  a  period  in  the  world's  history,  when  great  and  important 
events  crowd  on  the  attention  almost  too  rapidly  to  admit  of  properly 
studying  them,  or  of  estimating  their  consequences.  The  Present 
seems  to  be  in  league  with  the  Future,  to  put  to  open  shame  the 
deeds  of  the  Past.  Events  have  run  together  so  hurriedly  for  the  last 
half  century  and  more,  that  it  would  appear  as  if  the  time  had  arrived 
for  their  unravelment  Where  the  torpor  of  indifference  has  lain 
with  its  benumbing  influence,  symptoms  are  now  beginning  to  be 
perceptible  of  returning  consciousness  and  animation.  The  oppressed, 
whose  energies  have  long  been  worn  with  the  chain,  are  ready  to 
herald  the  first  ray  of  light  in  their  prisons,  with  peans  that  shall 
reach  the  heavens.  The  weary-hearted  are  once  more  recruiting 
their  strength,  with  the  hope  that  the  beautiful  dream  of  their  souls 
is  about  to  find  its  happy  realization.  The  blind  are  again  groping 
about  in  their  cells,  calling  for  the  aid  of  their  deliverers.  All  things 
are  made  to  feel  the  influence  of  the  new  spirit  that  rules  the  age. 

The  nations  of  the  earth  seem  to  be  hurrying  forward  for  the  ad 
justment  of  accounts  long  overlooked  and  forgotten.  All  are  eager 
to  present  their  claims,  and  to  receive,  as  soon  as  may  be,  the  share 
that  in  equity  is  their  own.  Topics  are  now  in  discussion,  that,  but 
a  short  while  ago,  were  left  out  of  the  category  altogether.  Interests 
that,  till  now,  never  presumed  to  thrust  themselves  from  the  oblivion 
in  which  they  were  buried,  are  now  openly  canvassed.  Eights  now 
find  a  tongue,  that  heretofore  have  been  unnoticed  and  unknown,  for 

17 


\ 

374  A  VOICE  TO  AMEEICA. 

V 

want  of  any  one  to  advocate  and  plead  for  trtern.  The  times  are 
•wonderfully  changed.  A  revolution  lias  been  wrought.  The  sword 
has  not  done  it,  though  the  sword  has  been  sheathed  but  little  during 
this  long  interval ;  but  it  is  the  silent  work  of  awakened  and  intelli 
gent  public  opinion,  which  no  power  is  able  to  withstand.  It  cannot 
be  cajoled  from  its  position ;  it  cannot  be  bribed ;  once  fixed,  it  can 
not  be  driven  from  its  place  by  either  force  or  fear. ' 

For  years,  the  continent  of  Europe  has  been  the  theatre  of  revolu 
tions,  succeeding  one  another  with  a  rapidity  truly  astonishing. 
France  seems,  from  the  beginning,  to  have  been  the  furnace  in  which 
all  the  fires  have  originated.  One  ruler  has  given  place  in  Paris  to 
another,  till  it  has  become  difficult  to  keep  the  various  changes  in 
mind.  Thrones  have  been  erected  and  overthrown,  as  if  they  were 
but  the  baubles  and  playthings  which  the  greater  Napoleon  affected 
to  consider  them. 

Italy  has  given  signs  of  regeneration.  Throughout  her  >line  oi' 
States,  from  time  to  time,  encouraging  voices  have  been  heard  in  the 
name  of  liberty,  and  now  and  then  her  people  havq'  risen  upon  their 
usurpers,  to  wrest  from  them  the  power  they  hate  so  wrongfully, 
exercised.  From  far-off  shores,  the  flame  has  bedhs  seen  burning-  in 
that  classic  laud  ;  and  hopes  have  been  entertained  that  it  was  a 
bright  and  lasting  illumination.  But  such  hopes  have  all  been  cast 
.down.  AYith  Austrian  swords  at  their  throats,  and  French  bayonets 
at  their  breasts,  it  was  scarcely  to  be  expected  that  the  people  of  Italy- 
could  succeed  in  so  unequal  a  contest.  A  guard  is  quartered  now 
in  every  house  ;  but  no  military  surveillance  can  imprison  those 
expansive  ideas,  or  the  spirit  of  those  vital  principles,  that  spread  so 
mysteriously  over  the  face  of  a  land.  JS"o  power  is  sufficient  to  over- 
awe  those  deep  and  scarcely  audible  mutterings,  which  presage  the 
earthquake  by  which  all  things  are  destined  to  be  shaken. 

The  struggle  of  Hungary  for  independence  adds  a  new  and  bright 
chapter  to  the  book  of  the  world's  history.  It  was  an  unsuccessful 
effort ;  and  some  may  conclude  that  its  failure  established  the  worth- 
lessness  of  the  cause  contended  for  :  but  the  very  unhappiness  of  the 


f 

THE,  HOPE   OF   THE   WOKLD.  375 


•  m 

leail 


issue  has  had  the  pftect  to  draw  upon  that  people  the  sympathies 
of  liberty-loving  Marts  everywhere,  and  their  example  has  been  re 
corded  as  one  worthy  of  imitation,  wherever  the  sound  of  freedom 
has  been  heard.  •'  Hungary  reposes  ;  but  we  believe  that  hers  is  the 
rest  which  recruits  the  strength,  and  precedes  other  and  more  earnest 
efforts  in  the  cause  for  which  her  energies  have  been  exhausted. 
She  fell  by  treachery,  more  than  by  the  combination  of  foreign  ene 
mies  ;  and  when  her  tattered  ensigns  are  lifted  again  from  the  dust, 
the  wish  of  all  American  hearts  will  be,  that  they  may  lead  on  her 
armies  to  the  speedy  and  successful  achievement  of  her  freedom. 

The  German  States  from  time  tq^tinie  have  felt  the  throes  of  this 
mighty  convulsion.  Of  all  others,  'they  seemed  the  least  likely  to 
resist  the  current  of  liberal  ideas.  They  were  the  earliest  to  hail  the 
light  that  came  dancing  over  the/earth,  and  welcomed  it  with  hearts 
that  had  been  tutored  to  the  love  of  liberty.  Great  things  were  ex 
pected  of  them,  and  great  things  should  have  been  performed.  But 
the  spirit  was  not  universal.  .It  had  not  yet  struck  deep  root  in  the 
common  heart.  The  masses  had  not  yet  gone  far  enough  in  that 
school  of  bitter  experience  which  inculcates  high  resolves  in  man. 
The  existing  ord^r  of  things  carried  a  preponderating  influence  which 
was  hard  to  overcome.  The  ancient  and  time-honored  barriers  it  was 
difficult  to  remove ;  but  another  and  a  far  mightier  obstacle  was,  the 
close  and  compact  union  of  absolutism  in  its  own  defence.  Monarchy 
was  made  to  feel  that  upon  this  one  effort  might  forever  depend  its 
existence.  The  conspiracy  was  successful.  '  The  weary  ones,  whose 
faith  had  been  so  enduring  in  behalf  of  their  holy  cause,  succumbed 
to  the  pressure  they  could  no  longer  resist,  and  took  up  their  abode 
in  foul  prisons^ — wandered,  sad-hearted,  abroad,  to  eat  the-  bread  of 
exiles, — or  laM  down  and  died,  desponding  forever  of  freedom. 

If  we  scan  the  history  of  Europe  for  the  last  few  years,  it  will 
offer  us  little  else  than  a  confused  record  of  struggles  and  repulses,  of 
efforts  and  disappointments,  of  hopes  and  fears,  of  popular  outbreaks 
and  tyrannical  usurpations.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  rulers,  trembling 
for  their  immediate  safety,  have  granted  concessions,  in  order  to  ap- 


376  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

pease  the  popular  clamor ;  but  on  regaining  power,  all  these  conces 
sions  have  been  blotted  out,  and  tyranny  has  become  more  exacting 
than  ever.  In  this,  absolutism  was  only  true  to  its  own  nature.  As 
soon  as  it  was  safe  to  lay  aside  the  mask,  it  never  failed  to  exhibit  its 
true  character  in  all  its  hideous  proportions.  jSTot  once  has  it  offered 
gifts  to  the  people,  which  it  did  not,  at  $ie  time,  resolve  to  take  back 
again,  with  usurious  interest. 

Austria,  Prussia,  Russia,  France — what  else  can  the  eye  fasten  itself 
upon  in  scanning  the  history  of  their  more  recent  acts,  but  records  of 
murder,  of  imprisonment,  of  fines  and  confiscations,  of  banishment, 
of  leagues  against  liberty,  of  cruelty  and  tyranny  in  all  their  multi 
plied  forms  ?  Where  is  the  hope  to-day  that  their  people  are  making 
themselves  ready  to  go  forward  with  the  conflict  that  will  reward 
them  with  freedom  ?  How  many  of  the  population  of  those  empires 
are  languishing  abroad  at  this  moment,  dying  lingering  deaths  far 
from  home  and  friends,  rather  than  swear  away  the  freedom  of  their 
consciences  at  the  dictation  of  crowned  conspirators !  Who  shall  tell 
the  number,  or  the  acuteness  of  their  sufferings  ?  Who  shall  estimate 
the  depth  of  that  grief  which  seems  able  to  consume  both  body  and 
soul  together  ? 

Europe  is  now  a  seething  caldron.  The  great  game  of  the  kings, 
carried  on  so  long  with  impunity,  at  last  appears  to  be  completely 
blocked.  The  rulers  are  at  a  stand.  Events  have  mastered  ambi 
tious  men  ;  and  the  extended  laws  of  cause  and  effect,  running  silently 
through  a  course  of  centuries,  at  length  seem  about  to  vindicate  their 
supreme  authority.  Politics  is  now  another  name  for  confusion.  Min 
isters  study  and  scheme  how  they  may  extricate  their  royal  masters 
from  their  dilemma,  and  give  over  their  efforts  with  exclamations  of 
mortification  and  despair.  The  rulers  grasp  their  sceptres  more 
firmly,  fearing  that  it  cannot  be  long  ere  they  must  give  them  up 
forever.  Cabinets  have  grown  timid,  and  dare  not  assert  with  former 
boldness  the  policy  of  their  several  courts.  There  is  a  manifest  want 
of  confidence  everywhere.  Armies  are  called  into  service,  till  there 
are  scarcely  any  men  left  to  recruit  them.  The  treasuries  are  de- 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  WORLD.  377 

pleted  by  enormous  drafts,  and  bankruptcy  and  ruin  threaten  nations 
that  but  yesterday  were  prolific  in  resources. 

But  in  the  midst  of  this  inextricable  confusion,  certain  signs  are 
beginning  to  betoken  the  increasing  interest  which  foreign  countries 
take  in  our  national  welfare.  We  see,  from  time  to  time,  symptoms 
of  a  more  decided  leaning  to  republicanism.  Here  and  there  sturdy 
words  are  spoken — at  the  right  time  and  in  the  right  place — in  our 
behalf.  The  spirit  and  principles  of  our  government  find  admiring 
friends  where  it  was  least  to  be  expected.  Our  institutions  are  criti 
cised  and  commented  on  in  an  appreciative  temper,  and  without  that 
rancor  and  prejudice  which  was  once  so  certain  to  be  excited,  by  the 
mere  mention  of  our  name. 

It  is  too  important  a  truth  for  any  of  us  to  overlook,  that  the 
American  Republic  is  the  home  of  Liberty,  and  the  final  hope  of  the 
world.  Through  the  efficacy  of  her  example  and  her  teachings, 
must  redemption  finally  come.  We  hold  the  treasure  in  our  own 
keeping ;  we  are  the  trustees  of  a  possession  that  is  to  enrich  man 
kind.  On  our  soil  dwells  that  living  spirit,  which  is,  in  time,  to 
overthrow  error,  tear  away  the  deceits  of  usurpation,  deprive  tyranny 
of  its  power,  and  everywhere  animate  the  human  soul  with  the  belief 
that  freedom  was  coeval  with  its  birth. 

If  the  world  may  not  hope  in  us,  then  all  hope  is  in  vain.  The 
experiment  of  a  free  government  is  one  with  which  we  have  made 
ourselves  familiar.  With  the  institutions  which  belong  to  such  a  form 
of  government,  we  have  an  acquaintance  that  is  practical,  and  thus 
the  more  valuable.  Their  spirit  has  infused  itself  into  our  habits, 
our  customs,  and  our  ways  of  thought.  If  these  privileges  are  worthy 
to  be  perpetuated,  none  ought  to  be  more  eager  and  earnest  in  the 
performance  of  such  a  work,  than  we  who  have  so  freely  enjoyed 
them ;  and  it  should  therefore  be  a  labor  of  love  with  us,  to  publish 
their  blessings  to  the  world. 

Foreign  rulers  no  doubt  regard  us  with  jealousy,  convinced  that 
our  system  is  incompatible  with  the  secure  existence  of  their  own. 
It  must  be  so,  in  the  very  nature  of  things.  The  work  of  Republi- 


378  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

canism  is  a  silent  one,  because  it  deals  with  the  understanding  alone. 
Other  systems  put  forth  military  power,  to  crush  out  opposition  by 
brute  force,  and  to  secure  acquiescence  by  fear.  But  true  Liberty 
has  no  such  murderous  weapons  in  her  armory.  The  means  bv 
which  she  works  are  those  that  soonest  disarm  tyranny,  and  bring 
usurpers  to  confusion.  She  appeals  not  to  prejudice,  but  to  reason. 
She  overcomes  opposition,  not  with  opposition,  but  with  the  teaching 
of  sublime  truths  that  cannot  be  resisted. 

Americans  should  not  forget  their  invaluable  trust.  They  should 
be  as  true  as  their  forefathers  to  the  hope  which  is  committed  into 
their  keeping.  Through  menace,  and  artifice,  and  open  opposition, 
they  should  walk  undaunted  ;  holding  their  way  with  the  resolute 
ness  that  will  take  them  out  of  the  reach  of  fear,  and  vindicating  by 
every  act  of  their  lives  those  immortal  truths  which  form  the  broad 
basis  of  our  national  existence. 

Above  all  things,  sectionalism  is  to  be  frowned  upon  as  the  worst 
enemy  known  to  the  republic.  Let  it  come  from  what  quarter  it 
may,  the  heart  that  harbors  the  thought  of  it  without  fear,  and  with 
out  regret,  is  nowise  worthy  of  the  stamp  of  the  American  name. 
They  who  cherish  it  with  the  hope  thereby  of  raising  their  individual 
fortunes,  will  certainly  be  classed  with  the  Arnolds  and  Iscariots  of 
our  race. 

It  is  a  monstrous  thing,  that  after  so  many  years  of  national  pros 
perity,  the  men  can  be  found  who  dare  openly  excite  one  portion  of 
our  people  against  the  other.  Honest  differences  of  opinion  are  to 
be  looked  for,  and  open  expressions  of  those  differences  are  a  neces 
sary  consequence ;  but  to  excite  treason,  to  inflame  sectional  preju 
dices,  to  build  up  barriers  between  one  State  and  another,  to  breed  a 
swarm  of  pestilential  sentiments  that  threaten  to  infest  the  laud  like 
a  plague, — is  to  put  one's  self  without  the  pale  of  honorable  American 
citizenship,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  honest  men's  consideration. 

If  we  are  to  possess  a  nationality  of  our  own,  we  must  become 
one  people.  There  can  be  no  strength  to  the  national  character,  if 
its  forces  are  dissipated  by  domestic  divisions.  Unless  we  are  able 


THE  HOPE  OF  THE  WORLD.  379 

to  stand  together,  we  must  straightway  fall  in  pieces.  The  moment 
unity  begins  to  relax,  disease  and  death  set  in  with  all  their  ravaging 
train.  Differences  should  exist  only  as  spurs  to  efforts  of  greater 
patriotism.  If  they  take  hold  on  the  character  of  citizenship  itself 
qualifying  its  value  and  demeaning  its  rank,  they  become  mischiefs 
instead  of  aids,  and  ought  to  be  silenced,  even  at  the  cost  of  the 
greatest  sacrifices. 

In  so  vast  an  area  as  that  comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  it  would  not  be  at  all  strange  if  there  were  a  great  diversity  of 
interests.  It  is  to  be  expected  that,  on  numberless  subjects  of  local 
concern,  the  inhabitants  of  the  different  sections  should  entertain  di 
rectly  opposite  opinions.  Nothing  is  potent  to  counteract  the  effect 
of  these  divisions,  and  to  draw  together  the  widely  separated  interests 
of  our  extended  country,  but  some  sentiment  that  shall  take  a  deeper 
root  in  the  heart  than  mere  interest,  and  control  all  other  influences 
by  its  superior  power.  We  look  in  vain  to  any  other  sentiment  for 
the  performance  of  this  work,  than  that  of  love  for  one's  country. 
Once  fixed  in  the  heart,  there  is  no  supplanting  it.  It  is  strong 
enough  to  shape  all  the  affections  and  interests  that  are  recorded  in 
the  list  of  our  common  humajiity. 

And  if  other  people  are  to  be  found  whose  hearts  beat  quick  at  the 
mention  of  their  country's  name,  Americans  have  reasons  a  thousand 
fold  stronger  for  laying  all  their  nobler  feelings  on  the  altar  of  patri 
otism.  We  are  addressed  by  considerations  such  as  appeal  to  no 
other  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth ;  we  have  entered  on  an  experi 
ment  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  world  ;  we  are  seeking 
great  and  hidden  truths ;  we  hold  the  hopes  of  all  liberty  in  our 
hands ;  and  the  wise  men  of  other  nations  are  watching  the  course  of 
our  star  with  both  jubilant  and  prayerful  emotions.  Surrounded  by 
such  stern  realities,  and  weighed  down  with  these  vast  responsibilities, 
imposed  by  Heaven  itself,  he  must  utterly  fail  to  understand  his  true 
relations  to  his  fellow-men,  or  even  to  discern  the  meaning  of  his  own 
existence,  who  remains  indifferent  to  the  great  circumstances  that 
beset  his  situation. 


380  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

There  is  no  safety  for  us,  except  in  unity  of  feeling  and  harmony 
~,  of  action.  "We  must  learn  to  consider  the  whole  country  as  dear  to 
our  hearts  as  any  single  part  of  it ;  to  forget  the  too  ready  feelings 
which  promote  distrust  and  alienation;  to  cherish  every  true  and 
•noble  sentiment  that  enfolds  within  its  embrace  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  of  our  common  country ;  to  cultivate  feelings  of  brotherhood 
and  peace ;  to  hold  steadily  up  to  contemplation  the  one  idea  of  our 
high  American  name  and  nationality. 

No  consideration  should  be  allowed  to  take  precedence  of  a  spirit 
of  patriotism.  Our  country  before  all  things,  should  be  both  the 
sentiment  and  the  motto.  Union  as  well  as  liberty,  should  be  on 
every  one's  tongue.  Nationality  as  well  as  freedom,  should  vitalize 
the  thought  of  every  one's  heart.  No  great  good  can  be  permanently 
secured,  except  by  generous  and  oft-repeated  sacrifices.  No  human 
institutions  can  hope  for  stability,  unless  they  are  founded  in  the 
deepest  human  conviction  of  their  necessity,  and  sustained  by  the 
perpetual  heroism  of  those  to  whom  their  value  is  apparent.  "We 
must  either  be  brethren,  or  become  aliens  to  the  memories  of  the 
past,  W7e  must  sink  jealousies  in  nobler  considerations,  or  lose  sio-ht 
of  all  the  promises  of  our  glorious  future.  We  must  earnestly  de 
termine  to  be  nothing  but  AMERICANS, — knowing  no  greater  name, 
and  resolved  that  there  shall  be  no  greater  nation, — and  at  once  the 
bright  inheritance  becomes  ours,  and  our  grandest  hopes  leap  forward 
to  their  swift  realization. 


I. 

SECKET  SOCIETIES  AXD  OATHS. 

JUDGE  GAYLE,  of  Alabama,  formerly  a  Whig  member  of  Congress, 
and  a  prominent  man  in  his  State  and  elsewhere,  has  written  an  able 
letter  to  some  of  his  personal  friends,  from  which  we  make  the  fol 
lowing  extracts,  bearing  upon  the  political  topics  of  the  day.  After 
considering  and  endorsing  the  platform  of  the  American  party  as 
maintaining  the  great  principles  of  free  government,  he  gives  reasons 
which  ought  to  commend  his  views  to  all  good  citizens. 

This  remarkable  party  was  formed  some  eighteen  months  since,  to  correct  the 
flagrant  abuses  which  had  crept  into  public  affairs,  and  which  threatened  the 
most  serious  consequences  to  the  union  of  the  States  and  the  government.  The 
arts  of  demagogues,  and  the  corrupt  practices  of  the  two  great  parties  of  the 
country,  had  trained  the  public  mind  to  regard  with  indifference,  if  not  with 
approbation,  the  advancement  of  men  without  merit  to  the  high  and  responsible 
trusts  of  the  government,  which  had  hitherto  been  reserved  as  the  reward  of 
experience,  of  wisdom,  of  tried  patriotism,  and  of  elevated  and  enlightened 
statesmanship. 

Each  of  these  parties  professed  to  have  some  good  principles,  it  is  true,  but 
all  observing  men  witnessed,  with  disgust,  the  total  disregard  and  abandonment 
of  these  principles  in  disgraceful  and  revolting  scrambles  for  office. 

The  extraordinary  increase  of  the  foreign  population  had  been  witnessed  with 
concern  by  all  considerate  Americans.  Tides  of  immigration  had  wafted  to  our 
shores,  in  almost  countless  numbers,  the  people  of  all  nations  and  all  countries 
— of  all  grades,  classes,  and  conditions — from  the  haughty  Briton  to  the  grovel 
ling,  besotted  Chinaman ;  from  the  high-toned,  educated  gentleman,  to  the  ig 
norant  serf  and  convicted  felon :  all  demanding  and  all  alike  admitted  (none  are 

17* 


382  A    VOICE    TO    AMERICA. 

ever  rejected)  to  the  privileges  of  the  ballot-box,  thereby  filling  our  halls  of 
legislation  with  men  of  their  own  choice,  and  exerting  a  commanding  influence 
in  the  passage  of  laws  for  the  government  of  this  American  country  of  ours. 

They  had  seen  these  people  occupying,  as  they  are  constantly  doing,  exten 
sive  districts  of  country  in  large  communities  to  themselves — having  but  little 
intercourse  with  our. citizens,  without  which  they  can  never  acquire  the  true 
American  impression  of  our  government,  or  imbibe  the  true  spirit  of  our  laws. 

They  had  seen  them  form  separate  societies  and  associations,  and  organizing 
into  large  military  bodies,  to  the  exclusion  of  our  people,  showing  an  aversion 
to  incorporate  with  them,  or  to  assume  the  American  character,  and  evincing 
a  preference  for  the  manners,  habits,  customs,  and  institutions  of  their  respec 
tive  nations. 

They  had  seen  them  convene  in  large  political  assemblies,  and  with  charac 
teristic  arrogance  demand  changes  in  our  constitution  and  laws  to  suit  the  pe 
culiar  views  in  which  they  had  been  trained  and  educated  from  infancy. 

And  above  all,  and  worse  than  all,  they  had  witnessed  the  degradation  of  the 
country  in^our  national  legislature,  by  the  passage  of  laws  conferring  upon  un- 
naturalized  foreigners  the  full  right  of  suffrage  in  the  territories,  and  all  the 
other  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities  which  form  the  priceless  heritage;  of  the 
native-born  citizen,  in  total  disregard  of  the  Constitution,  which  confers  on 
Congress  the  power  to  pass  uniform  naturalization  laws  only. 

The  allegiance  of  these  aliens  is  wholly  due  to  the  crowned  heads  of  the 
countries  from  which  they  emigrated.  They  have  no  right  to  claim  the  protec 
tion  of  our  government,  _or  to  petition  for  a  redress  of  grievances.  In  case  of 
war  with  the  nations  to  which  they  belong,  as  alien  enemies,  they  would  be  lia 
ble  to  be  seized  under  the  laws  of  Congress,  to  have  their  goods  confiscated,  and 
themselves  imprisoned  or  sent  out  of  the  country.  And  yet  it  is  upon  these 
people,  composed,  as  a  large  majorirty  are  known  to  be,  of  the  vicious  dregs  of 
European  society,  that  authority  is  conferred  of  controlling  the  ballot-box,  and 
of  exercising  the  high  and  responsible  functions  of  our  territorial  governments. 
The  right  of  suffrage  has  also  been  conferred  on  aliens  in  some  of  the  States. 

Now,  if  the  foreign  population  has,  at  this  early  period  of  our  history,  ac 
quired  such  commanding  influence  in  our  national  and  state  legislatures,  it  re 
quires  no  prophetic  sagacity  to  predict  that  the  day  is  not  distant  when  they 
will  control  the  destinies  of  this  great  republic. 

This  idea  has  strongly  and  universally  impressed  itself  upon  the  public  mind, 
and  given  rise  to  that  truly  noble  and  patriotic  sentiment  that  "Americans  shall 
"  rule  America."  This  sentiment  proclaims  the  existence  of'that  intense  Ameri 
can  feeling  and  love  of  country  which  is  a  surer  safeguard  of  our  liberties  than 
all  our  constitutions,  and  which  can  never  more  than  partially  animate  the  bo 
som  of  the  foreigner,  because  nature  has  given  him  the  same  inspiration  for  his 
own  native  land. 

The  correction  of  these  and  other  abuses,  to  the  dangers  of  which  no  one  can 
be  indifferent,  was  the  principal  inducement  to  the  formation  of  the  American 


APPENDIX.  383 

party.  They  saw  that  they  had  their  origin  mainly  if  not  entirely  in  our  natur 
alization  laws.  A  million  and  a  half  of  American  voters  have  banded  together 
in  one  great  political  brotherhood  to  cause  these  laws  to  be  repealed  or  modi 
fied;  and  roused  and  animated  as  they  are  by  the  feeling  just  stated,  you  can 
no  more  defeat  them,  in  their  purposes,  than  you  can  suppress  the  feeling 
itself. 

The  feature  of  this  remarkable  American  party  that  has  been  deemed  most 
assailable,  and  accordingly  has  been  attacked  with  the  greatest  violence  and 
rancor,  is  the  secret  or  private  character  of  its  organization.  Jacobin  club,  se 
cret  conspiracy,  underground  party,  dark-lantern  party,  and  such  like  epithets, 
have  been  unsparingly  applied  to  it.  These  are  very  ugly  names,  intended  to 
awaken  popular  prejudice,  and  to  render  au  object  hideous  which  is  otherwise 
comely  enough. 

The  party  is  composed  of  numerous  societies  or  councils,  dispersed  through 
the  country,  and  established  at  localities  to  suit  the  convenience  of  its  members. 
These  localities  are  made  public,  the  times  of  meeting  are  made  public,  their 
membership  is  public,  and,  what  is  of  more  importance,  the  result  of  their  de 
liberations  is  made  public.  These  councils,  or  societies,  to  accomplish  the  great 
objects  of  their  institution,  went  sedulously  to  work,  and  their  joint  efforts,  in 
au  incredibly  short  space  of  time,  have  enabled  them  to  iay  before  the  public, 
the  great  principles,  to  the  support  of  which  they  stand  pledged  before  the 
American  people.  Their  consultations,  as  to  the  details  of  their  platform,  were 
necessarily  private ;  but  when  their  great  work  was  done,  they  submitted  it  to 
public  inspection,  and  if  well  done,  the  public  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  in 
quire  into  the  process  by  which  it  was  accomplished. 

The  simple  question,  is,  are  these  private  associations,  formed  for  great  public 
purposes,  hostile  in  their  tendency,  as  they  are  asserted  to  be,  to  the  free  insti 
tutions  of  our  country,  and  to  the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution  ? 

The  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  meet  together  and  to  .consult  upon  pub 
lic  affairs,  whether  their  meetings  are  private  or  public,  whether  in  the  form  of 
private  societies  or  public  assemblies,  has  never  before  been  questioned  in  this 
country,  even  during  periods  of  the  highest  political  excitement  and  exasper 
ation. 

As  evincive  of  the  jealousy  und  apprehensions  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic, 
they  classed  the  right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble  (privately  or  publicly 
and  without  restraint)  with  the  right  of  petition,  religious  freedom,  the  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  the  press,  and  in  the  first  articles  of  the  amendments  of  the 
Constitution,  prohibited  Congress  from  passiug  any  law  to  abridge  them  in  any 
manner  whatever. 

These  have  always  been  revered  by  the  enlightened  friends  of  free  govern 
ment,  as  among  the  great  elements  of  human  liberty,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted, 
that,  without  reflection  it  is  hoped,  they  or  any  of  them  should  be  denounced 
by  persons  of  standing  and  character,  as  hostile  to  our  free  institutions. 

If  there  is  truth  in  history,  private  political  societies  have  ever  proved  them- 


384  A   VOICE   TO  AMERICA. 

selves  the  natural  enemies  of  tyrants,  and  the  natural  and  indispensable  allies 
of  republics.  In  despotisms  they  are  resorted  to  by  necessity,  and  in  free  gov 
ernments  through  choice,  as  being  more  efficacious  and  convenient  in  compass 
ing  the  objects  proposed,  whether  they  look  to  the  improvements  in  govern 
ment  or  to  the  correction  of  abuses.  Since  the  accession  of  the  house  of  Bruns 
wick  to  the  English  throne  in  1714,  these  private  associations  for  all  purposes, 
whether  political,  commercial,  religious,  or  any  other,  have  been  of  universal 
prevalence.  They  are  so  interwoven  with  the  business  of  the  people,  in  all  its 
branches,  that  they  have  become  a  part  of  their  social  organization,  and  if  any 
attempt  were  made  to  restrain  them,  a  blaze  would  be  kindled  throughout  Eng 
land  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  extinguish. 

But  of  all  countries  in  the  world,  they  are  most  prevalent  in  the  United  States, 
especially  those  of  a  political  character.  They  are  the  peculiar  and  exclusive 
machinery  which  have  kept  our  political  parties  in  motion  during  the  entire 
period  of  our  existence  as  a  nation.  This  will  be  acknowledged  by  all,  and 
denied  by  none.  All  the  platforms  that  have  ever  been  formed  by  these  parties 
have  been  the  result  of  private  and  secret  meetings,  of  secret  consultations  and 
deliberations ;  and  the  mere  matters  of  detail  employed  in  their  formation  arc 
never  known,  and  never  sought  to  be  known,  except  at  the  instance  of  imper 
tinent  curiosity.  \ 

Pending  our  presidential  elections,  these  societies  are  formed  throughout  the 
country  under  the  name  of  clubs.  They  are  as  numerous  as  the  cities,  towns, 
villages,  hamlets,  and  neighborhoods  of  the  whole  country,  and  all  affiliated  in  a 
common  brotherhood.  The  information  of  each  is  rapidly  and  secretly  commu 
nicated  to  the  others,  and  all  their  schemes,  plans,  and  contemplated  move 
ments  are  as  carefully  withheld  from  the  public  as  are  the  plans  of  hostile 
armies  from  each  other.  These  periodical  organizations  are  very  much  on  the 
plan  of  those  of  the  American  party,  and  they  are  quite  as  secret  in  their  char 
acter.  No  one  has  ever  blamed  or  censured  them  for  this,  for  it  is  obvious  that 
without  them  success  would  be  hopeless.  It  is  therefore  too  late  in  the  day  to 
denounce  private  political  associations,  and  anathemas  come  with  a  bad  grace 
from  those  who  invented,  and  have  always  resorted  to  them. 

But  the  American  party  administer  oaths  to  their  members.  This,  in  the 
opinion  of  its  enemies,  is  very  horrible,  and  the  Billingsgate  vocabulary  is  too 
meagre  to  supply  appropriate  epithets  for  its  condemnation.  It  is,  they  say, 
anti-republican  and  anti-democratic.  This  accusation  has  been  as  inconsider 
ately  made  as  that  against  the  secret  character  of  the  order.  If  oaths  are  taken 
to  bind  men  to  a  course  of  conduct  that  is  moral,  charitable,  and  benevolent  in 
its  purposes,  or  if  they  arc  taken  to  bind  them  to  the  support  of  the  great  prin 
ciples  of  liberty  as  contained  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  such 
oaths  cannot  be  regarded  as  either  wicked,  immoral,  or  unlawful.  They  are  re 
quired  to  be  taken  by  all  public  officers  to  support  the  Constitution,  and  it  is 
not  perceived  that  there  is  any  tiling  wrong  in  requiring  the  members  of  a  polit 
ical  party  to  come  under  the  obligations  of  an  oath  to  support  the  great  princi- 


APPENDIX.  385 

pies  contained  in  the  same  instrument,  such  as  the  right  of  petition,  the  liberty 
of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  purity  of  the  ballot-box,  &c.,  which  are  among 
the  cardinal  principles  of  the  new  party,  and  it  is  devoutly  wished  that  they 
may  be  faithfully  maintained,  even  if  it  be  by  the  instrumentality  of  oaths. 

But  it  is  said  that  the  members  are  required  to  swear  that  they  will  be  gov 
erned  by  the  decisions  of  the  majority,  and  particularly  in  the  nominations  of 
candidates  for  office.  The  answer  to  this  is,  that  any  member  dissatisfied  with 
any  of  the  principles  or  regulations  of  the  party  is  at  liberty  to  withdraw  front 
the  order,  and  he  becomes  immediately  released  from  any  oath  he  may  have 
taken. 

The  charge  of  religious  proscription  is  not  to  be  combated  by  argument  or  in 
ferences.  It  is  a  fact  to  be  determined  by  the  platform  itself.  Conspicuous 
among  the  articles  of  that  instrument  is — "  the  protection  of  all  citizens  in  the 
legal  and  proper  exercise  of  their  civil  and  religious  rights  and  privileges,  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  right  of  every  man  to  the  full,  unrestrained,  and  peace 
ful  enjoyment  of  his  own  religious  opinions  and  worship." 

Thus,  gentlemen,  you  have  my  views  and  opinions  briefly  and  hastily  ex 
pressed,  though  deliberately  formed,  of  the  character,  principles,  and  objects  of 
the  American  party.  They  have  been  derived  entirely  from  its  own  publica 
tions,  and  conversations  with  its  members.  I  am  not  a  member  of  the  order, 
and  have  no  connection  with  it  beyond  a  lively  sympathy  in  its  efforts  to  estab 
lish  and  maintain  the  great  conservative  principles  it  has  adopted. 
I  am  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  GAYLE. 


II. 

RELATIONS  OF  THE  POPE  TO  THE  CIVIL  POWER. 
Letter  from  0.  A.,  Brownson. 

BOSTON,  Tuesday,  June  12,  1855. 

Mr  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  this  moment  yours  of  the  7th  instant,  with  its 
iuclosure.  I  am  a  little  at  a  loss  to  determine  what  course  to  take.  There  are 
no  numbers  of  my  Review  wherein  I  have  maintained  the  civil  authority  of 
the  Pope  in  this  country ;  but  as  there  are  several  numbers  in  which  I  have 
discussed  the  relations  of  the  two  orders — temporal  and  spiritual— I  think  I 
shall,  upon  the  whole,  best  answer  your  wishes  by  sending  them.  I  will  there 
fore  order  my  publisher  to  send  you  all  the  numbers  of  1853  and  1854. 

You  will  find  in  the  articles  entitled  the  "  Two  Orders,"  January,  1855,  "  The 
Spiritual  not  for  the  Temporal,"  April,  and  "  The  Spiritual  Supreme,1'1  July,  of 


386  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

the  same  year,  the  statement  of  my  doctrine  on  the  subject ;  and  in  "  You  Go 
too  Far,"  January,  1854,  "  The  Temporal  Power  of  the  Popes,'1'1  April,  1854,  and 
"  Uncle  Jack  with  hi-s  Nephew"  for  October  of  the  same  year,  my  explanations 
and  defence  of  my  doctrine. 

May  I  ask  you  to  read  these  articles  in  the  order  in  which  I  have  named  them  ? 
If  you  will,  although  you  will  doubtless  find  much  which,  if  a  non-Catholic, 
you  will  object  to,  I  am  sure  you  will  find  no  such  doctrine  as  I  am  accused  of 
holding.  The  subject  I  treat  has  been  much  obscured  by  controversy,  and  I  am 
liable  to  misapprehension  by  those  who  have  not  studied  it  somewhat  profound 
ly  from  the  Catholic  point  of  view.  I  treat  the  subject  only  under  certain  aspects, 
and  for  Catholics,  and  many  of  the  terms  I  use  have  in  Catholic  theology  a  tech 
nical  sense,  which  those  not  familiar  with  that  theology  may  misapprehend.  I 
say  this  in  excuse  of  those  who  have  misrepresented  me. 

I  claim — and  never  have  denied  for  the  Pope,  out  of  the  Ecclesiastical  States 
of  which  he  is  the  temporal  sovereign — no  temporal  or  civil  jurisdiction,  power, 
or  authority,  properly  so  called.  The  only  power  the  Pope  has  in  this  country, 
is  his  power  over  Catholics  as  the  spiritual  head  of  the  Church.  It  is  purely  a 
spiritual  power,  and  can  be  exercised  only  for  a  spiritual  end,  and  even  then 
only  over  Catholics,  for  the  Church  does  not  judge  those  who  are  without. 

Mr.  Brownson  is  here  asserting  the  usual  doctrines  of  his  Church 
in  those  countries  in  which  his  creed  is  in  the  minority.  The  CJmrch 
DOES  judge  those  ivho  are  ivithout,  else  wherefore  the  Athanasian 
curses  ? 

In  matters  purely  temporal,  I,  as  a  Catholic,  owe  no  obedience  to  the  Pope, 
because  he  has  received  from  Jesus  Christ  no  authority  as  a  temporal  sovereign 
over  me.  lie  cannot  make  or  unmake  the  rights  of  the  sovereign  or  the  duties 
of  the  subject — abrogate  the  former  or  absolve  from  the  latter. 

This  paragraph  is  entirely  annulled  by  the  succeeding  portion  of 
the  letter,  and  history  stamps  falsehood  upon  such  assertions. 

Thus  far,  all  Catholics,  whether  the  so-called  ultra-Montanes,  or  the  so-called 
Galileans,  are  agreed.  The  dispute  lies  not  here.  All  agree  that  the  State  b 
supreme  and  independent  in  its  own  order — that  is  to  say,  in  the  temporal  order. 
Butwhatlmaintamis,thatthe  temporal  order  is  not  supreme  and  independent, 
but,  in  the  -very  nature  of  things,  subordinated  to  the  s£>iritual,  since  the  end  of  man 
— the  end  for  which  God  made  him,  directs  and  governs  him  ly  his  providence— 
lies  in  the  spiritual,  not  in  tke  temporal.  Every  man  who  believes  any  religion 
at  all,  whether  Catholic  or  non-Catholic,  does,  and  must  admit  this  ;  for  it  is 
only  saj'ing  that  we  must  obey  God  rather  than  man,  and  live  for  the  Creator 
rather  than  the  creature.  This  premised,  I  think  I  can  state  to  you,  in  a  few 
words,  the  doctrine  I  do  really  hold. 


APPENDIX.  387 

The  italics  are  Mr.  Brownsou's  own.  The  inference  drawn  from 
them  immediately  after,  is  worthy  the  followers  of  Loyola,  but  Prot 
estants  cannot,  will  not  admit  it.  If  "  the  State  is  supreme  and  in 
dependent," — what  does  the  wiiter  intend  by  its  being  "  subordinated 
to  the  spiritual  ?" — "  Much  learning  doth  make  theo  mad.!' 

Inasmuch  as  the  temporal  order  is  subordinated  to  the  spiritual,  it  follows  iliat 
the  State  is  -under  the  laics  of  justice,  consequently  the  prince  holds  his  powers  as 
a  trust,  not  as  an  indefeasible  right,  and  therefore  forfeits  them  when  he  abuses 
them,  and  loses  his  right  to  reign.  This  is  the  common  doctrine  held  by  all  of  us 
Americans,  and  all  Catholic  doctors  teach  and  always  have  taught  it.  It  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  all  true  liberty,  and  is  the  only  doctrine  that  can  ever  justify 
resistance  to  the  teinporal  powers.  This  right  of  resistance  of  power,  when  it 
becomes  tyrannical  and  oppressive,  I  take  it  for  granted,  is  held  by  every 
American. 

But  here  is  a  difficulty.  The  Church,  following  the  Holy  Scriptures,  makes 
civil  allegiance  a  religious  duty,  and  says  with  St.  Paul  (Romans  viii.  1,  2)  : 
"  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers,  for  there  is  no  power  but 
from  God.  Therefore,  he  that  resisteth  the  power  resisteth  the  ordinance  of 
God,  and  they  that  resist  purchase  damnation  to  themselves."  Here  you  see 
I  am  forbidden  by  the  law  of  God  to  resist  the  power,  and  commanded,  on  peril 
of  damnation,  to  obey.  Here  is  my  conscience  bound  to  obedience,  and  my 
conscience  as  a  Catholic  can  be  released  only  by  a  declaration  of  my  Church,  as 
the  divinely  appointed  director  of  conscience,  that  the  prince  of  tyranny  and 
oppression  has  forfeited  his  right,  fallen  from  his-dignity,  and  ceased  to  reign. 
What  I  claim  for  the  Pope,  as  visible  head  of  the  Church,  is  the  power  to  re 
lease  my  conscience  from  this  religious  bond,  and  to  place  me  at  liberty  to  resist 
the  prince  become  a  tyrant.  This  is  all  I  understand  by  the  dispensing  power. 

The  power  itself,  everybody,  not  a  tyrant  or  a  slave,  asserts.  The  American 
Congress  of  1776  asserted  it,  and  deposed  George  III.  The  only  difference  is, 
some  give  it  to  the  people,  some  to  the  individual ;  and  I  claim  it  for  the  Church, 
and  the  Pope  as  head  of  the  ChurcJt. 

So  that  the  Church  has,  necessarily,  "  an  indefeasible  right"  to 
control  the  secular  power,  as  seemeth  it  best ;  and  constitutes  itself 
a  judge  in  all  matters  between  the  State  and  the  ecclesiastical  power. 
Mr.  Brownson  claims  the  same  right  to  resistance  on  behalf  of  his 
Church,  which  the  whole  body  of  Americans  possess  ;  but  he  forgets 
that  the  ight  to  resistance,  when  invested  in  a  whole  nation,  is 
scarcely  s )  liable  to  abuse,  as  when  the  sole  prerogative  of  one  man 
— be  he  Pope,  or  aught  else. 


388  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

The  Pope  does  not  hi  this  exercise  a  civil  power  or  jurisdiction,  and  it  is  call 
ed  his  temporal  power  only  because  it  is  a  power  exercised  over  temporal  sov 
ereigns,  or  in  relation  to  the  obligation  of  the  subject  to  obey  the  prince.  But 
even  here  the  Pope  does  not  relieve  from  cicil  allegiance,  for  that  the  prince  had 
forfeited  by  his  tyranny,  lie  releases  the  subject  only  from  the  spiritual  or  re 
ligious  obligation,  superadded  by  Christianity  to  the  civil,  and  this  only  in  case 
of  the  Catholic  conscience. 

The  Pope  is  the  proper  authority  to  decide  for  me  lohcthtr  the  Constitution  of 
this  country  is  or  is  not  repugnant  to  the  laivs  of  God.  If  he  decides  that  it  is 
not,  as  he  has  decided,  then  I  am  bound  in  conscience  to  obey  every  law  made 
in  accordance  with  it ;  and  under  no  circumstances  can  he  absolve  me  from  my 
obligation  to  obey,  or  interfere  with  the  administration  of  government  under  it, 
for  the  civil  government  is  free  to  do  according  to  its  constitution  whatever  it 
pleases,  that  is  not  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  God  or  to  natural  justice.  That  it 
is  free  to  do  more  than  that,  I  presume  no  man  in  this  country  will  pretend. 

Again  the  italics  are  the  author's.  We  forbear  to  criticise,  but  \ve 
say  to  our  fellow-countrymen — behold  these  opinions,  the  sanctioned 
tenets  of  the  Romanist  party  in  our  republic  ;  for  Mr.  Brownsou 
"  never  publishes  any  thing,  until  he  has  first  submitted  it  to  the 
bishop."  There  is  a  sword  hanging  in  terror  cm  over  our  heads,  and 
it  merely  awaits  the  verdict  of  a  mitred  prince,  to  raise  civil  war  in 
our  midst,  and.  desolate  the  Union  throughout  its  wide  extent. 

I  have  made  these  remarks  to  aid  you  to  understand  the  doctrine  of  the 
articles  to  which  I  have  called  your  attention. 

You  are  a  stranger  to  me,  but  I  take  you  to  be  a  serious-minded  man,  and  a 
lover  of  truth  and  justice  ;  as  such  I  have  addressed  you.  I  have  no  doctrine 
or  opinions  that  I  wish  to  conceal.  I  am  a  Catholic.  As  such,  I  aim  to  be  truo 
to  my  God,  and  to  my  fellow-men. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

O.  A.  BROWNSON. 
HUGH  J.  DAVIS,  Esq.,  "Warrenton,  N.  C.  • 


III. 

FOREIGNERS  AND  THE  ELECTIVE  FRANCHISE 

Less  than  ten  days  since,  we  had  occasion  to  notice  the  manifesto  c^1  the  Louis 
ville  Branch  of  the  "Free  German"  Union,  and  to  point  out  the  dangerous  ten 
dency  of  such  anarchical  organizations.  We  did  not  then  anticipate  tiiat  the  ef- 


APPENDIX.  389 

fects  of  the  principles  they  hold,  aided  by  Irish  violence  at  elections,  would  be 
so  speedily  and  fatally  felt  in  that  city.  It  will  not  be  possible,  until  more  accu 
rate  details  shall  have  been  received  with  regard  to  the  bloody  occurrences  that 
have  disgraced  Louisville,  to  decide  adequately  in  what  proportion  the  guilt  of 
murder,  arson,  and  riot  is  to  be  divided  between  the  native  and  foreign  popu 
lation.  If  the  telegraphic  reports  prove  to  be  accurate,  a  general  understand 
ing  must  have  existed  between  the  Germans  and  Irish,  previous  to  the  election, 
that  they  would  go  armed  during  the  day,  and  prevent  Americans,  by  every 
means,  from  approaching  the  polls.  The  first  outrage  was  committed  by  a  body 
of  Irish  or  Germans,  as  early  as  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  next  attack 
was  made  upon  Americans,  several  of  whom  were  wounded,  by  Germans,  who 
fired  upon  them  from  their  houses  and  a  brewery  in  which  they  had  intrenched 
themselves.  It  is  not  stated  that  any  provocation  was  given ;  but  exasperation 
— perhaps  inflamed  by  drink — at  the  defeat  of  their  ticket,  was  probably  the 
main  cause  of  the  violence  which  these  ruffians  had  recourse  to.  They  reaped, 
however,  bitter  fruits  from  their  mad  folly.  A  crowd  of  Americans  assembled, 
burned  the  brewery,  and  after  a  conflict  of  considerable  duration,  sacked  sev 
eral  houses.  Up  to  this  time,  although  some  persons  had  been  wounded,  it  does 
not  seem  that  any  one  was  killed.  The  scene  of  slaughter  commenced  in  a  dif 
ferent  part  of  the  city  at  a  later  hour,  and  was  again  initiated  by  a  gang  of  Irish. 
From  this  time  the  riot  assumed  the  dimensions  of  a  street  battle.  The  Irish, 
who  had  been  guilty  of  the  last  assault,  intrenched  themselves  in  houses,  where 
they  were  besieged  by  a  crowd  of  Americans,  infuriated  at  the  crime  that  had 
been  committed,  and  the  tumults  of  the  night  did  not  end  until  a  large  num 
ber  of  lives  had  been  lost,  and  several  blocks  of  houses  had  been  burned.  On 
the  day  after  the  election,  the  excitement  still  continued,  and  at  the  last  accounts 
yesterday,  renewed  outbreaks  were  feared  during  the  coming  night.  Many 
foreigners  were,  however,  leaving  the  city,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  a  com 
plete  victory  has  been  gained  over  them  by  their  antagonists. 

Pitiable  is  the  lot  of  most  foreigners  that  land  on  our  shores.  They  emerge 
suddenly  from  subjection  to  tyrannical  rule,  and  habits  of  slavery  that  genera 
tions  have  stereotyped,  into  that  paradise  of  the  depraved  and  unthrifty,  the 
possession  of  active  political  rights.  The  story  is  familiar  to  every  one,  of  the 
Irishman,  who,  after  regarding  for  some  time  with  wonder  a  threshing  machine, 
cr.ed  out,  "  Ye're  bloody  sthrong,  biit  ye  can't  vote"  The  Irish,  alas,  can  vote ; 
so  can  the  Germans,  and  between  them  they  are  acquiring,  in  the  hands  of  dem 
agogues  more  iniquitous  than  themselves,  a  control  of  elections  in  many  of  our 
States,  of  which  it  is  time  that  Americans  should  be  wearied  and  ashamed. 
Eight  months  ago,  the  subject  of  amending  our  Naturalization  Laws  was  brought 
before  Congress,  by  Senator  Adams  of  Mississippi.  Eeference  was  made,  at  the 
tune,  in  our  columns,  to  the  able  speech  which  he  made  on  that  occasion,  and 
hopes  were  entertained  that  the  measure  he  proposed  would  be  dispassionately 
discussed,  and,  with  some  necessary  amendments,  adopted  by  Congress.  It 
fell,  however,  to  the  ground.  Politicians  are  afraid  to  meet  boldly,  either  in 


390  A  VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

Congress  or  the  State  Legislatures,  the  embarrassments  which  this  question,  so 
important  for  the  future  interests  of  the  country,  presents.  They  dread  the 
local  opposition  which  advocacy  of  manly  and  patriotic  measures  of  reform  would 
subject  them  to,  and  shrink  from  being  ostracised  by  foreigners,  whose  opposi 
tion  at  the  polls  might  prevent  their  re-election  to  office.  The  wisdom  of  the 
proposal  that  the  term  of  residence  of  aliens  should  be  prolonged,  before  they 
are  permitted  to  enjoy  every  right  of  Americans  born,  is  recognized  by  provi 
dent,  far-sighted  Americans  of  all  parties ;  but  this  cowardly  fear  of  losing 
votes,  on  the  part  of  aspirants  for  office,  opposes  more  than  any  thing  else  an 
effectual  obstacle  to  proper  legislation.  The  indiscreet  manner,  too,  in  which 
foreigners  have  been  confounded  by  many  with  the  power  they  wield,  and  the 
intermingling  of  religious  elements  in  all  Native  American  parties  that  have 
hitherto  existed,  have  tended  to  delay,  if  not  totally  hinder,  an  impartial  exam 
ination  of  the  question,  what  rights  it  is  expedient  to  bestow  upon  persons  born 
abroad. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  people  and  government  of  the  United  States  to  welcome 
to  our  shores  those  who  come  here  with  a  claim  upon  our  hospitality,  and  to 
the  home  for  themselves  and  education  for  their  children,  which  we  can  so  ea 
sily  afford  to  bestow.  It  is  also  a  bounden  obligation  to  act  towards  them  the 
part  of  kind  protectors,  shielding  them  by  our  laws,  permitting  them  to  hold 
property,  and  to  transfer  it  to  their  children,  and  even  to  acquire  such  control 
over  the  soil  as  they  can  secure  by  the  labor  of  their  hands.  These  privileges, 
however,  which  the  immigrant  has  a  right  to  look  for,  and  which  our  laws  the 
oretically  give,  are  poisoned,  and  rendered  practically  nugatory  by  the  prema 
ture  addition,  indiscriminately,  of  the  right  of  suffrage.  The  poor  Irishman  or 
German  encounters,  as  he  lands  in  our  seaports,  a  monster  who  is  legally  au 
thorized  to  obstruct  with  a  frequently  impassable  barrier  his  pathway  to  the 
happy  home  to  which  he  is  entitled,  and  where  he  might  enjoy  abundantly  the 
products  of  the  soil,  and  become  a  frugal,  sober,  and  industrious  denizen  of 
the  land.  This  monster  is  political  temptation.  The  hard-handed,  humbly- 
conditioned  Irish  laborer,  as  well  as  the  clodhopper  socialist  from  Germany,  both 
sink  into  corruption  by  our  own  fault,  more  than  by  theirs.  They  are  at  once 
instructed  that  they  may  vote  in  six  months,  a  year,  or  less,  if  fraud  is  employ 
ed  to  attain  the  object.  They  are  taught  to  consider  themselves  an  army  of  po 
litical  invaders,  are  enlisted  either  in  infidel  associations,  or  under  the  banners 
of  rum-selling  middle-men,  and  made  to  reinforce  the  vast  floating  coudottieri 
between  parties,  which  often  at  elections  turns  the  scale  in  favor  of  the  highest 
bidder  or  the  latest  payer,  and  wrests  pledges  from  candidates  in  favor  of  infi 
del  encroachments,  or  impunity  to  do  wrong.  Foreigners  who — if  their  con 
sciences  were  not  drugged  by  the  fatal  right  to  vote  before  they  know  the 
A  B  C's  of  our  political  alphabet,  or  can  distinguish  between  liberty  and  license, 
excitement  and  disorder,  or  comprehend  the  secret  of  acquiescing  in  the  will  of 
the  majority — might  become  eventually  themselves,  or  through  their  children, 
good  citizens,  are  enticed  by  the  glitter  of  goldea.  bribes  to  remain  in  large 


APPENDIX.  391 

towns  and  cities,  where  they  spend  freely  what  has  been  easily  got,  acquire 
habits  of  debauchery,  and  a  ternate  between  riotous  indulgence,  the  alms- 
house,  and  our  prisons.  The  neglected  offspring  of  such,  brought  up  with 
their  heads  in  the  public-school,  and  their  bodies  in  the  gutter,  ripen  into  that 
unnaturally  shrewd,  depraved,  dangerous  race  of  infidel  bullies,  fearing  neither 
God  nor  man,  whose  vocation  is  to  seduce  others  to  sin  and  misery,  and  increase 
'  as  widely  as  possibly  the  realms  of  moral  ruin. 

Every  little  while,  some  solemn  warning,  like  the  recent  riot  at  Louisville, 
troubles  the  minds  of  thinking  men,  and  points  forward  to  that  period  of  civil 
discord  by  which  we  may  some  day  be  convulsed,  if  a  remedy  is  not  applied  to 
the  evil  created  by  our  present  naturalization  laws ;  but  unfortunately  the  age 
is  too  peculiarly  one  of  excitement  for  any  single  event  to  leave  a  lasting  im- 
'pression.  Yet  if  citizens  will  look  back  twenty-five  years,  to  a  time  when  disor 
ders  that  are  common  now  were  regarded  as  impossible,  and  will  then  reflect 
upon  the  consequences  of  a  like  decline,  for  another  quarter  of  a  century,  they 
will  be  convinced  of  the  danger  of  delay,  and  of  the  rapidity  and  strength  that 
anti- American  influence  is  acquiring  in  the  country. 

New  York  Journal  of  Commerce,  Aug.  5,  1855. 


IV. 

EELIGIOTJS    TOLERATION— HERETICS    AND    ROMANIST    GRAVE 
YARDS. 

P.  Sharkey,  Esq.,  of  Jackson,  Miss.,  writes  to  the  Southern  Mer 
cury  as  follows,  giving  an  incident  of  the  War  of  181 2-]  5,  in  which 
he  served : 

July  25,  1855. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Mercury : 

As  there  has  been  a  great  deal  said  about  ancient  Catholicism,  and  old  files 
hunted  up  to  prove  their  hostility  to  the  Protestants,  and  as  I  am  a  man  of  but 
little  ancient  reading,  and  a  little  on  the  Young  American  order,  I  will  content 
myself  by  referring  back  to  1815,  after  the  battle  at  New  Orleans. 

I  belonged  to  the  Mississippi  Militia,  and  was  encamped  on  a  French  Catholic 
farm  above  New  Orleans.  After  the  battle  was  over,  several  of  our  men  died 
by  wounds  and  sickness,  as  they  had  been  placed  at  Chef  Menteur,  where  there 
was  not  one  foot  of  dry  land  to  stand  or  lie  on,  only  as  they  would  gather  flags 
and  make  beds  to  lie  on.  We  were  some  distance  above  New  Orleans,  and 
having  no  way  of  conveyance  to  a  grave-yard,  we  proposed  to  bury  our  dead  on 
the  back  or  out-post  of  the  farm.  Went  to  dig  a  grave,  without  knowing  the 


392  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

hostility  the  Catholics  had  to  heretics.  The  owner  of  the  laud  came  down  and 
forbid  us  from  burying  our  corpse.  He  appeared  to  be  very  much  enraged, 
crying  out,  "  Sacre  fungas !  de  American  heretic  no  be  put  on  my  land."  "We 
said  we  must  bury  the  man.  He  replied — "  Me  no  care  ;  dere  is  de  Mississippi 
river ;  throw  him  in  de  river."  We  soon  made  him  leave,  and  when  we  went 
to  bury  our  dead  we  always  had  our  guns.  Jo.  Templeton  was  one  of  our 
Warren  soldiers  who  shared  the  fate  of  the  balance  that  were  buried  there. 
We  were  discharged  at  that  place,  and  came  home.  Letters  followed  us  from 
our  friends,  stating  that  as  we  left  all  the  dead  were  taken  up  and  put  in  the  river 
by  the  owner  of  the  land  ;  as  though  a  dead  heretic  could  hurt  a  live  Catholic. 

Now  I  refer  to  any  man  that  was  belonging  to  Hinds'  Dragoons,  or  the  Mis 
sissippi  Militia,  for  the  facts  of  this  and  the  report  that  followed  us.  I  will  re 
fer  to  a  few  by  name  :  Esq.  McDonald,  of  Madison ;  Eichard  and  Battle  Harri 
son,  of  Jefferson  ;  Haley  Cotton,  of  Leake,  as  they  were  there,  and  know  the 
facts  as  well  as  myself. 

P.  SIIAEKEY. 

The  above  letter  is  from  one  of  the  most  substantial  and  well- 
known  citizens  of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  and  what  is  the  fact  de 
veloped?  This:  a  lay  member  of  the  Romish  Church  is  so  fired 
with  hatred  towards  Protestants,  that  he  denies  at  burial-place  to  the 
brave  and  patriotic  men  who  came  from  an  adjoining  State  to  repel 
an  invading  foe.  Men  who  died  in  battle  in  defending  the  home  of 
the  Romanist,  have  their  bones  dug  up  from  their  mother  earth,  and 
thrown  contemptuously  into  the  Mississippi,  as  if  their  dust  defiled  the 
land.  Innumerable  examples,  where  the  Romish  priests  have  undis 
puted  sway,  displaying  the  same  feeling,  constantly  occur  all  over 
the  world. 


V. 

MILITARY  IN  THE  CHURCH. 

The  enthusiastic  in  the  faith  that  American  institutions  need  no  safeguards, 
contend  that  the  illuminating  influence  of  Protestantism  will,  in  this  country, 
destroy  the  pagan  rites  of  the  Romish  Church  so  common  in  Europe.  We  find, 
however,  that  this  is  not  the  case.  The  heathen  custom  of  inaugurating  statues, 
so  common  among  the  Greeks  and  ancient  Romans,  maintains  its  place  in  a 
church  claiming  to  be  Christian,  and  situated  in  enlightened  America,  and  in 
the  city  of  New  York. 


APPENDIX.    *  393 

At  the  Cliurch  of  the  Eedeemer  (German  Kotnish),  on  Sunday,  the  12th  of 
August,  1855,  "a  statue  of  the  Virgin  was  inaugurated  with  the  celebration  of 
High  Mass.  Some  time  before  the  hour  for  the  commencement  of  the  services, 
the  body  of  the  church  was  densely  crowded,  but  the  gallery  was  attainable  to 
the  lucky  possessor  of  a  sixpence,  and  was  very  comfortably  roomy.  Occupy 
ing  the  front  central  seats  was  a  military  band,  and  behind  them  a  company — 
one  of  the  German  rifle  companies,  we  believe — in  uniform.  Up  the  side  aisles, 
at  short  intervals,  were  the  banners  of  various  Catholic  and  benevolent  societies. 
Festoons  of  flowers  and  leaves,  arranged  very  tastily,  ran  from  pillar  to  pillar 
all  the  way  up  the  church,  each  bearing  the  name  of  a  saint. 

"  The  large  altar-piece  was  decorated,  to  use  the  choice  expression  of  the  an 
nouncement,  'in  a  manner  particularly  beautiful.'  Flowers  and  leaves  were 
profusely  used  from  top  to  bottom,  and  over  all  ran  a  cordon  lieu,  inscribed  with 
the  prayer,  '  Regina  sine  lobe  concepta,  ora  pro  nolis."* 

"In  the  centre  of  this  high  altar-piece,  in  a  white-draped  niche  stood  the 
statue  of  the  Virgin,  bearing  the  infant  Eedeemer  in  her  arms.  The  material  is 
not  mentioned,  and  of  course  could  not  be  distinguished :  we  suppose  it  is  of 
wood.  The  announcement  above  quoted,  says  it  is  ;  of  exquisite  beauty.'  It  is 
very  brilliantly  painted.  The  robe  is  blue,  fringed  and  starred  with  gold.  The 
statue  was  encircled  by  a  halo  of  gas-burners,  arranged  in  star-shaped  groups, 
and  all  the  candles  were  burning  at  its  feet.  Mass  was  celebrated  very  finely. 
There  is,  or  was  on  Sunday,  a  fine  choir  at  the  church,  and  the  band  assisted." 

Here  we  have  the  introduction  of  foreign  military  companies,  as  part  of  the 
pageant  of  a  professedly  religious  ceremony.  We  would  have  every  reflecting 
American  to  ask  himself,  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  association?  and  what 
right  have  troops,  organized  by  the  State,  to  connect  themselves  thus  with  the 
church  ? 


VI. 

AMEEICAN  NATIONALITY. 

The  "  stars  and  stripes,"  the  glorious* emblem  of  the  Union,  form  a  parallelo 
gram,  with  six  white  and  seven  red  parallel  stripes,  denoting  the  union  of  the 
original  Thirteen  Colonies,  with  a  blue  square  in  the  upper  corner,  next  the 
flag-stan0,  cutting  off  four  red  and  three  white  stripes,  and  containing  thirty-one 
white  stars,  representing  the  number  of  States  in  the  Union,  combined  in  one 
large  star,  symbolizing  the  "many  in  one"  of  the  national  motto,  " E plurfinu 
unum" 

The  great  Union"  Flag  was  hoisted  on  the  2d  day  of  January,  1776,  at  Cam 
bridge,  by  General  Washington.  Lieut.  Carter  wrote  from  Charlestown  Heights, 


394  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

January  26th,  1776  :  "  The  King's  speech  was  sent  by  a  flag  to  them  on  tho  1st. 
In  a  short  time  after  they  received  it,  they  hoisted  a  Union  flag  (above  the  Con 
tinental,  with  thirteen  stripes)  at  Mount  Pisgat ;  their  citadel  fired  thirteen  guns 
and  gave  the  like  number  of  cheers."  And  Gen.  Washington  wrote  from  Cam 
bridge,  on  the  4th  of  the  same  month,  to  Col.  Joseph  Reed:  "The  speech  I 
send  you.  A  volume  of  them  was  sent  out  by  the  Boston  gentry,  and,  farcical 
enough,  we  gave  great  joy  to  them,  without  knowing  or  intending  it;  for  on 
that  day — the  day  which  gave  being  to  the  new  army — but  before  the  proclama 
tion  came  to  hand,  we  had  hoisted  the  Union  flag,  in  compliment  to  the  Colo 
nies.  But,  behold  !  it  was  received  in  Boston  as  a  token  of  tho  deep  impression 
the  speech  had  made  upon  us,  and  as  a  signal  of  submission.  So  we  hear,  by 
a  person  out  of  Boston,  last  night.  By  this  time,  I  presume  they  begin  to  think 
it  strange  that  we  have  not  made  a  formal  surrender  of  our  lives."  Thus  we 
have  an  acknowledgment  of  the  presence  of  the  stripes,  and  a  device  resembling 
the  British  Union  Jack.  This  latter,  instead  of  being  above  the  stripes,  was  prob 
ably  in  the  place  now  occupied  by  the  blue  square  and  the  white  stars.  From 
this  it  would  appear  that  the  Great  Union  Flag  of  the  Colonies  was  the  British 
flag  modified  by  drawing  six  white  stripes  through  the  red  field,  thus  making 
thirteen  red  and  white  stripes,  representing  the  rebellious  Colonies  in  Union. 
This  flag  probably  was  originated  by  the  Committee  of  Conference,  appointed 
by  Congress,  and  composed  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Mr.  Lynch,  and  Mr.  Harrison ;  and 
the  idea  of  such  a  modification  of  the  British  flag  is  not  only  simple  but  cer 
tainly  a  very  natural  one,  when  we  consider  the  circumstances  and  history  of 
the  times. 

The  necessity  for  a  change  of  the  emblem  of  union  was  apparent ;  and  the 
thirteen  Colonies  readily  suggested  the  idea  of  a  constellation  of  stars.  Conse 
quently  we  find  that  the  constellation  Lyra  was  actually  under  consideration, 
and  was  used  on  passports.  June  14,  1777,  Congress  passed  the  following: 
"Resolved,  that  the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States  be  thirteen  stripes,  alter 
nate  red  and  white  :  That  the  union  be  thirteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  rep 
resenting  a  new  constellation."  It  appears  that  the  first  act  of  Congress  chang 
ing  the  flag  was  on  the  18th  of  January,  1794,  when  it  was  enacted,  "That  from 
and  after  the  1st  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1795,  the  flag  of  the  United  States  be  fifteen 
stripes,  alternate  red  and  white  ;  that  the  union  be  fifteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue 
field."  The  stars  were  arranged  in  a  circle  indicating  eternal  union.  This  was 
the  flag  of  the  United  States  during  the  war  of  1812-14.  In  1818,  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  was  again  altered,  and,  as  we  are  informed,  on  the  suggestion  of 
the  lion.  Mr.  "VVendover,  of  New  York,  a  return  was  made  to  the  thirteen  stripes  ; 
as  it  was  anticipated  the  flag  would  become  unwieldy  if  a  stripe  were  added  on 
the  admission  of  each  State ;  and,  moreover,  by  the  plan  proposed,  the  union 
of  the  old  thirteen  States,  tis  well  as  the  number  of  members  composing  the 
existing  Union,  would  be  pre>euted  by  this  flag  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  W. 
also  proposed  the  arrangement  of  the  stars  in  the  union  in  the  form  of  a  single 
star.  In  this  there  was  n  departure  from  the  original  design,  as  the  perpetuity 


APPENDIX.  395 

of  the  Union  ceased  to  be  indicated  by  the  flag,  as  it  had  previously  been  in  the 
circle  of  stars,  except  so  far  as  indicated  by  the  several  stars  forming  one  large 
star.  The  resolution  of  1818  was  as  follows :  "  That  from  and  after  the  fourth 
day  of  July  next,  the  flag  of  the  United  States  be  thirteen  horizontal  stripes,  al 
ternate  red  and  white ;  that  the  union  be  twenty  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field. 
And  that,  on  the  admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  Union,  one  star  be  added 
to  the  union  of  the  flag ;  and  that  such  addition  shall  take  effect  on  the  fourth 
day  of  July  ne:xt  succeeding  such  admission." 


vn. 

AMEKICAN  ELECTIONS. 

There  was  a  time,  we  remember,  when  the  good  order  and  decorum  of  Amer 
ican  Elections  was  a  common  proverb,  at  home  and  abroad.  That  time,  we  fear, 
has  passed,  or  is  passing  away.  Not  that  the  American  people  have  grown,  or 
are  growing  less  attached  to  the  principles  of  peace  and  propriety,  nor  less  ca 
pable  of  self-government,  nor  the  government  of  their  passions  and  prejudices, 
but  rather  because  of  the  introduction  into  our  popular  contests  of  a  strange 
element,  that  is  inherently  inimical  to  Americanism  in  every  leading  impulse  and 
aspiration.  This  pestilent  influence,  within  a  very  few  months  past,  has  been 
fearfully  provocative  of  bloodshed  and  strife,  in  some  of  the  most  populous  cities 
of  the  Union.  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  places  nearer  home, 
have,  each  in  its  turn,  been  made  the  scene  of  a  sanguinary  strife,  generally 
growing  out  of  nefarious  attempts  by  Irish  and  Germans — but  chiefly  Irish — to 
interfere  with  American  meetings,  and  American  freedom  of  speech,  in  cases 
where  it  so  happened  neither  those  meetings  nor  that  speech  were  shaped  to 
accord  with  the  sentiments,  opinions,  or  beliefs,  of  a  set  of  men,  who  are,  of 
late  years,  but  too  prone  to  acknowledge  the  civil  and  political  privileges  they 
enjoy  here  (but  which  they  never  were  permitted  to  enjoy  "at  home")  by  shoot 
ing  down  Americans  in  their  own  streets,  and  blowing  their  brains  out,  when 
ever  they  have  the  audacity  to  assemble  together.  Louisville,  in  Kentucky,  it 
is  grievous  to  see,  is  now  passing  through  the  same  ordeal. — AT.  Y.  Express. 


VIII. 

WHAT  CAUSES  ELECTION  KIOTS 

Is  the  low  education  of  our  foreign  population.    The  musket  and  the  bayonet 
are  the  exponents  of  the  law  in  foreign  cities ;  and  what  we  bow  to  here,  in 


396  A   VOICE  TO   AMERICA. 

deferenco  and  obedience,  as  "law" — as  the  icill  of  the  majority — in  other  coun 
tries  is  bowed  to  under  the  prick  of  the  bayonet.  Hence,  when  among  such  a 
people,  the  prick  of  the  bayonet  is  removed,  the  law,  or  the  will  of  the  major 
ity  that  makes  the  law,  is  resisted  by  riot,  row,  or  murder.  In  Louisville,  Ken 
tucky,  for  example,  the  Americans  beat  on  election-day  ;  but  the  foreigners 
there,  instead  of  doing  as  Americans  do,  submit  to  the  majority,  in  the  absence 
of  the  bayonet,  shoot  from  their  houses  Americans  in  the  streets  !  If  the  di 
vision  in  Louisville  had  been  between  Whig  Americans  and  Democratic  Amer 
icans,  the  moment  the  result  was  known  it  would  have  been  acquiesced  in,  with 
general  submission  ;  but  the  indignant  foreign  population  in  Louisville  do,  just 
as  they  would  do — when  they  dare — in  Paris,  or  Berlin,  or  Vienna ;  that  is,  ap 
peal  to  the  musket  and  fight. 

It  is  this  spirit  of  resistance  to  law,  to  the  majority,  and  to  the  declared  will 
of  that  majority,  which  makes  republican  government  almost  impossible  over 
sea — a  minority  that  will  not  submit  to  a  majority,  but  prefers  a  fight,  as  in 
Louisville  ;  and  hence  a  result  so  deplorable. 

These  numerous  riots  that  we  are  having,  wherever  American  interests  come 
into  political  conflict  with  the  interests  or  passions  of  foreigners,  only  go  to 
show  that  government  is  a  trade,  which  a  foreign  population  cannot  learn  by 
instinct,  but  must  be  educated  in  by  long  training.  Voting  is  a  very  simple 
act,  but  it  means  and  embodies  the  idea  of  government,  and  goverrmient  is  a 
science,  which  an  Irishman,  who  cannot  read,  or  a  German,  who  knows  not  our 
language,  and  customs,  and  traditions,  cannot  learn  in  a  single  day.  Indeed, 
the  education  of  our  foreign  population  is  far  easier,  if  we  may  so  express  our 
selves,  than  their  uneducation.  To  unlearn  what  they  know  is  their  first  duty ; 
and  it  takes  years  and  years,  but  it  is  much  harder  work  to  unlearn  than  to 
learn.  Jury  trials,  habeas  corpuses,  &c.,  are  all  Greek  to  them;  but  all  these 
they  can  learn.  What  they  have  to  unlearn,  however,  is  harder  than  Greek, 
and  that  is,  armed  resistance  to  law,  to  government,  to  majorities.  The  prick 
of  the  bayonet  is  not  half  so  formidable  to  an  American  as  the  writ  of  the  con 
stable  ;  but  this  necessity  of  feeling  the  prick  of  the  bayonet  before  they  yield, 
they  must  all  unlearn.  Revolutions  are  wrought  here,  not  in  arms,  but  witli 
bits  of  paper  in  the  ballot-boxes.  Minorities  have  110  rights  against  laws  con 
stitutionally  passed,  and  constitutionally  expounded  and  executed,  while  ma 
jorities,  even,  have  no  rights,  under  laws  unconstitutionally  passed,  or  uncon 
stitutionally  executed.  These  are  very  hard  problems  for  foreigners  to  solve, 
but  we  Americans  solve  them.  We  often  learn,  too,  that  submission  to  wrongs 
is  oftener  wiser  than  armed  resistance  by  force.  When  we  are  whipped  elec 
tion-day,  we  lament  our  bad  luck,  and  try  it  again,  but  seldom  or  never  fight, 
unless  attacked  by  force.  The  loss  of  the  anti- American  candidate  for  Congress, 
in  Louisville,  led  to  shooting  Americans  in  the  streets,  and,  of  course,  to  the 
subsequent  fearful"  retribution. 

Foreigners,  if  they  were  wise,  would,  themselves,  call  for  a  long  training  for 
their  countrymen,  before  they  gave  them  tho  right  of  governing  at  the  ballot- 


APPENDIX.  397 

boxes.  Men  can  no  more  be  good  soldiers  after  a  day's  enlistment,  than  good 
voters  without  training.  Government  is  a  curious  piece  of  human  mechanism, 
which  untaught  fingers  may  spoil,  but  which  they  can  never  safely  touch.  A 
foreigner  may  he  as  wise  as  Humboldt  in  philosophy,  but  as  ignorant  as  a  babe 
of  the  mechanism  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Twen 
ty-one  years  are  wisely  demanded  of  us  Americans  to  live,  to  think,  to  look  on, 
to  hear,  and  to  talk,  and  to  see,  and  to  study,  before  we  vote.  Thousands  of 
foreigners  vote  fraudulently  who  ha-ve  been  in  the  country  scarcely  a  year,  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  that  cannot  read  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  the  language  in  which  its  makers  wrote  it. — y.  Y.  Express,  Aug.  10,  1855. 


IX. 

GOLDEN  MAXIMS  OF  WASHINGTON. 

"'Let  us  have  a  government  by  which  our  lives,  liberties,  and  properties,  will 
be  secured." 

"  The  government  of  the  United  States,  though  not  actually  perfect,  is-one  of 
the  best  in  the  world." 

"It  is  among  the  evils,  and  perhaps  not  the  smallest,  of  Democratic  govern 
ments,  that  the  people  must  feel,  before  they  will  see :  when  this  happens,  they 
are  roused  to  action." 

"  If  we  mean  to  support  the  liberty  and  independence  which  it  has  cost  us  so 
much  blood  and  treasure  to  establish,  we  must  drive  far  away  the  demon  of 
party  spirit." 

"  As  there  can  be  no  harm  in  a  pious  wish  for  the  good  of  one's  country,  I 
shall  offer  it  as  mine,  that  each  state  would  not  only  choose,  but  absolutely  com 
pel  their  ablest  men  to  attend  Congress,  that  public  abuses  may  be  corrected." 

"  The  preservation  of  the  sacred  fire  of  liberty  and  the  destiny  of  the  repub 
lican  model  of  government  are  justly  considered  as  deeply,  perhaps  as  finally 
staked  on  the  experiment  intrusted  to  the  hands  of  the  American  people." 

"  There  are  four  things  which  I  humbly  conceive  are  essential  to  the  well 
being — I  may  even  venture  to  say,  to  the  existence  of  the  United  States  as  an 
independent  power : — 

"  1.  An  indissoluble  union  of  the  states  under  one  federal  head. 

"  2.  A  sacred  regard  to  public  justice. 

"  3.  Tlie  adoption  of  a  proper  peace  establishment. 

"4.  Prevalence  of  a  pacific  and  friendly  disposition  among  the  people  of  tho 
United  States,  making  them  forget  their  local  prejudices  and  politics,  &o." 

18 


398  A  VOICE   TO   AMEEICA. 

"  As  avenues  to  foreign  influence  in  innumerable  ways,  such  attachments  are 
particularly  alarming  to  the  truly  enlightened  and  independent  patriot.  How 
many  opportunities  do  they  afford  to  tamper  with  domestic  factions,  to  practise 
the  arts  of  seduction,  to  mislead  public  opinion,  to  influence  or  awe  the  public 
councils  !  Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence,  I  conjure  you  to 
believe  me,  fellow-citizens,  the  jealousy  of  a  free  people  ought  to  be  constantly 
awake,  since  history  and  experience  prove  that  foreign  influence  is  one  of  the  most 
lanefvl  foes  of  republican  government.  But  that  jealousy,  to  be  useful,  must  be 
impartial,  else  it  becomes  the  instrument  of  the  very  influence  to  be  avoided, 
instead  of  a  defence  against  it.  Excessive  partiality  for  one  foreign  nation,  and 
excessive  dislike  for  another,  cause  those  whom  they  actuate  to  see  danger  only 
on  one  side,  and  serve  to  veil  and  even  second  the  arts  of  influence  on  the  other, 
Eeal  patriots,  who  may  resist  the  intrigues  of  the  favorite,  are  liable  to  become 
suspected  and  odious,  while  its  tools  and  dupes  usurp  the  applause  and  con 
fidence  of  the  people  to  surrender  their  interests. 

"  The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us  in  regard  to  foreign  nations  is,  in  extending 
our  commercial  relations,  to  have  with  them  as  little  political  connection  as 
possible.  So  far  as  we  have  already  formed  engagements,  let  them  be  fnHillcd 
with  perfect  good  faith.  Here  let  us  stop. 

"  Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests  which  to  us  have  none  or  a  very  re 
mote  relation.  Hence,  she  must  be  engaged  in  frequent  controversies,  the 
causes  of  which  are  essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns.  Hence,  therefore,  it 
must  be  unwise  iu  us  to  implicate  ourselves  by  artificial  ties  in  the  ordinary 
vicissitudes  of  her  polities,  or  the  ordinary  combinations  and  collisions  of  her 
friendships  or  enmities. 

"  The  unity  of  government  which  constitutes  you  one  people,  is  a  main  pillar 
in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence,  the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at 
home,  your  peace  abroad,  of  your  safety,  of  your  prosperity,  of  that  very  liberty 
which  you  so  highly  prize.  But  as  it  is  easy  to  foresee  that  from  different 
causes,  and  from  different  quarters,  much  pains  will  be  taken,  many  artifices 
employed,  to  weaken  in  your  minds  the  conviction  of  this  truth — as  this  is  the 
point  in  your  political  fortress  against  which  the  batteries  of  internal  and  ex 
ternal  enemies  will  be  most  constantly  and  actively  (though  often  covertly  and 
insidiously)  directed— it  is  of  infinite  moment  that  you  should  properly  estimate 
the  immense  value  of  your  national  union  to  your  collective  and  individual  hap 
piness  ;  that  you  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and  immovable  attachment 
to  it ;  accustoming  yourselves  to  think  and  to  speak  of  it  as  a  palladium  of  your 
political  safety  and  prosperity;  watching  for  its  preservation  with  jealous  anx 
iety  ;  discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can  in 
any  event  be  abandoned  ;  and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of 
every  attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble 
the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  together  the  various  parts. 

"  For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of  sympathy  and  interest.  Citizens  by 
birth  or  choice  of  a  common  country,  that  country  has  a  right  to  concentrate- 


APPENDIX.  399 

your  affections.  The  name  of  American,  which  belongs  to  you  in  your  national 
capacity,  must  always  exalt  the  just  pride  of  patriotism  more  than  any  appella 
tion  derived  from  local  discriminations.  "With  slight  shades  of  difference,  you 
have  the  same  religion,  manners,  habits,  and  political  principles.  You  have,  in 
a  common  cause,  fought  and  triumphed  together.  The  independence  and  lib 
erty  you  possess  are  the  work  of  joint  counsels  and  joint  efforts,  of  common 
dangers,  sufferings,  and  success. 

"But  these  considerations,  however  powerfully  they  address  themselves  to 
your  sensibility,  are  greatly  outweighed  by  those  which  apply  more  immediately 
to  your  interest.  Here,  every  portion  of  our  country  finds  the  most  command 
ing  motives  for  carefully  guarding  and  preserving  the  union'of  the  whole." 


X. 

MAXIMS  AND  OPINIONS  OF  EMINENT  STATESMEN,  ETC. 

"Hearken  not  to  the  unnatural  voice,  which  tells  you  that  the  people  of 
America,  knit  together,  as  they  are,  by  so  many  cords  of  affection,  can  no  longer 
live  together,  as  members  of  the  same  family ;  can  no  longer  continue  the  mu 
tual  guardians  of  their  mutual  happiness  ;  can  no  longer  be  fellow-citizens  of  one 
great,  respectable,  and  flourishing  empire.  Hearken  not  to  the  voice  which 
petulantly  tells  you  that  the  form  of  government  recommended  for  your  adop 
tion,  is  a  no'velty  in  the  political  world ;  that  it  has  never  yet  had  a  place  in  the 
theories  of  the  wildest  projectors  ;  that  it  rashly  attempts  what  it  is  impossible 
to  accomplish.  No,  my  countrymen;  shut  your  ears  against  this  unhallowed 
language.  Shut  your  heart  against  the  poison  which  it  conveys.  The  kindred 
blood  which  flows  in  the  veins  of  American  citizens,  the  mingled  blood  which 
they  have  shed  in  defence  of  their  sacred  rights,  consecrates  their  union,  and 
excites  horror  at  the  idea  of  their  becoming  aliens,  rivals,  enemies.  And  if 
novelties  are  to  be  shunned,  believe  me,  the  most  alarming  of  all  novelties,  the 
most  wild  of  all  projects,  the  most  rash  of  all  attempts,  is  that  of  rending  us  in 
pieces,  in  order  to  preserve  our  liberties,  and  promote  our  happiness. 

"But  why  is  the  experiment  of  an  extended  republic  to  be  rejected  merely 
because  it  may  comprise  what  is  new  ?  Is  it  not  the  glory  of  the  people  of 
America,  that,  whilst  they  have  paid  a  decent  regard  to  the  opinions  of  former 
times  and  other  nations,  they  have  not  suffered  a  blind  veneration  for  antiquity, 
for  custom  or  for  names,  to  overrule  the  suggestions  of  their  own  good  sense, 
the  knowledge  of  their  own  situation,  and  the  lessons  of  their  own  experience  ? 
To  this  manly  spirit  posterity  will  be  indebted  for  the  possession,  and  the  world 
for  the  example,  of  the  numerous  innovations  displayed  on  the  American  theatre, 
in  favor  of  private  rights  and  public  happiness." — Jamts  Madison. 


400  A   VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

"  When  your  lordships  look  at  the  papers  transmitted  to  us  from  America ; 
when  you  consider  their  decency,  firmness,  and  wisdom,  you  cannot  but  respect 
their  cause,  and  wish  to  make  it  your  own.  For  myself,  I  must  declare  and 
avow  that  in  all  my  reading  and  observation  (and  it  has  been  my  favorite  study, 
I  have  read  Thucidydes,  and  have  studied  and  admired  the  master-states  of  the 
world),  I  say  I  must  declare,  that  for  solidity  of  reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and 
wisdom  of  conclusion,  Tinder  such  a  complication  of  difficult  circumstances,  n-o 
nation,  nor  body  of  men,  can  stand  in  preference  to  the  General  Congress  at 
Philadelphia.  I  trust  it  is  obvious  to  your  lordships,  that  all  attempts  to  im 
pose  a  servitude  upon  such  men,  to  establish  despotism  over  such  a  mighty 
continental  nation,  must  be  vain,  must  be  fatal." — Extract  from  Mr.  Pitfs  speech 
in  the  British  Parliament,  Jan.  20,  1775. 

"  What  is  patriotism?  Is  it  a  narrow  affection  for  the  spot  where  a  man  wa-> 
born  ?  Are  the  very  clods  where  we  tread  entitled  to  this  ardent  preference 
because  they  are  greener  ?  No,  sir,  this  is  not  the  character  of  the  virtue ;  and 
it  soars  higher  for  its  object.  It  is  an  extended  self-love,  mingling  writh  all  the 
enjoyments  of  life,  and  twisting  itself  with  the  minutest  filaments  of  the  heart.  It 
is  thus  we  obey  the  laws  of  society,  because  they  are  the  laws  of  virtue.  In  their 
authority  we  see,  not  the  array  of  force  and  terror,  but  the  venerable  image  of 
our  country's  honor.  Every  good  citizen  makes  that  honor  his  own,  and  cher 
ishes  it  not  only  as  precious,  but  as  sacred.  lie  is  willing  to  risk  his  life  in  its 
defence,  and  is  conscious  that  he  gains  protection  while  he  gives  it.  For  what 
rights  of  a  citizen  will  be  deemed  inviolable  when  a  state  renounces  the  prin 
ciples  that  constitute  their  security  ?  Or  if  his  life  should  not  be  invaded,  what 
would  its  enjoyments  be  in  a  country  odious  in  the  eyes  of  strangers,  and  dis 
honored  in  his  own  ?" — Fisher  Ames. 

"  The  imperishable  records  of  our  grand  crusade  against  despotism  are  em 
blazoned  upon  the  scroll  of  Time,  and  are  unsurpassed  by  the  loftiest  exploits  of 
Koman  or  Grecian  heroism.  The  entire  world  watched  with  intensest  interest 
the  successes  of  our  revolutionary  progress,  and  that  which  many  had  considered 
problematical,  has  long  since  become  matter  of  historic  truth.  To  the  people  of 
the  United  States  lias  been  assigned  the  glorious  work  of  effecting  and  pro 
claiming  the  triumph  of  freedom.  More  than  half  a  century  has  tested  its 
stability  and  its  power,  affording  a  sufficient  augury  of  its  brilliant  future. "- 
•  Welder. 

"It  cannot  be  denied,  but  by  those  who  would  dispute  against  the  sun,  that 
with  America,  and  in  America,  a  new  era  commences  in  human  affairs.  This 
era  is  distinguished  by  free  representative  governments,  by  entire  religious  lib 
erty,  and  by  improved  systems  of  national  intercourse,  by  a  newly-awakened 
and  an  unconquerable  spirit  of  free  inquiry,  and  by  a  diffusion  of  knowledge 
through  the  community,  such  as  has  been  before  altogether  unknown  or  un 
heard  of.  *  *  *  If  we  cherish  the  virtues  and  the  principles  of  our  fathers. 


APPENDIX.  401 

Heaven  will  assist  us  to  carry  on  the  work  of  human  liberty  and  human  hap 
piness." — Ibid. 

"  The  spirit  of  union  is  particularly  liable  to  temptation  and  seduction  in 
times  of  peace  and  prosperity." — Hid. 

"If  we  are  true  to  our  country  in  our  day  and  generation,  and  those  who 
come  after  us  shall  be  true  to  it  also,  assuredly  we  shall  elevate  her  to  a  pitch 
of  prosperity  and  happiness,  of  honor  and  power,  never  yet  reached  by  any 
nation  beneath  the  sun." — Ibid. 

"  The  spirit  of  liberty,  growing  more  and  more  enlightened,  and  more  and 
more  vigorous  from  age  to  age,  has  been  battering  for  centuries  against  the 
solid  battlements  of  the  feudal  system.  All  that  could  be  gained  from  the  im 
prudence,  snatched  from  the  weakness,  or  wrung  from  the  necessities  of 
crowned  heads,  has  been  carefully  gathered  up,  secured  and  hoarded,  as  the 
rich  treasures,  the  very  jewels  of  liberty.  The  popular  and  representative  right 
has  kept  up  its  warfare  against  prerogative  with  various  success  :  sometimes 
writing  the  history  of  a  whole  age  in  blood,  sometimes  witnessing  the  martyr 
doms  of  Sydneys  and  Eussels  :  often  baffled  and  repulsed,  but  still  gaining  on 
the  whole,  and  holding  what  is  gained  with  a  grasp  which  nothing  but  the 
complete  extinction  of  its  own  being  could  compel  it  to  relinquish." — Ibid. 

"  The  first  object  of  a  free  people  is  the  preservation  of  their  liberty  ;  and  lib 
erty  is  only  to  be  preserved  by  maintaining  constitutional  restraints  and  just 
divisions  of  political  power." — Ibid. 

"Under  the  present  Constitution,  wisely  and  conscientiously  administered, 
all  are  safe,  happy,  and  renowned.  The  measure  of  our  country's  fame  may 
fill  our  breasts.  It  is  fame  enough  for  us  all  to  partake  in  Jier  glory,  if  we  will 
carry  her  character  onward  to  its  tru£  destiny.  Kot  only  the  cause  of  American 
Liberty,  but  the  cause  of  Liberty  throughout  the  whole  earth,  depends  in  a 
great  measure  on  upholding  the  Constitution  and  Union  of  these  States.  Let 
it  be  a  truth  engraven  on  our  hearts,  let  it  be  borne  on  the  flag  under  which 
we  rally  in  every  exigency  that  we  have  one  country,  one  Constitution,  one 
destiny?"— Ibid. 

"  This  glorious  Liberty — these  benign  institutions,  the  dear  purchase  of  our 
fathers,  are  ours — ours  to  enjoy,  ours  to  preserve,  ours  to  transmit.  Generations 
past  and  generations  to  come  hold  us  responsible  for  the  sacred  trust." — Ibid. 

"  I  have  no  fears  for  the  permanency  of  our  Union,  whilst  our  liberties  are 
preserved.  It  is  a  tough  and  strong  cord,  as  all  will  find  who  will  presump 
tuously  attempt  to  break  it.  It  has  been  competent  to  suppress  all  the  domestic 
insurrections,  and  to  carry  us  safely  through  all  the  foreign  wars  with  which  we 
have  been  afflicted  since  it  was  formed,  and  it  has  come  out  of  each  with  more 
strength  and  greater  promise  of  durability.  It  is  the  choicest  political  blessing 


402  A    VOICE   TO   AMERICA. 

which,  as  a  people,  we  enjoy,  and  I  trust  that  Providence  will  permit  us  to  trans 
mit  it,  unimpaired  to  posterity,  through  endless  generations." — Henry  Clay. 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States.— Like  one  of  those  wondrous  rocking 
stones  reared  by  the  Druids,  which  the  finger  of  a  child  might  vibrate  to  its  cen 
tre,  yet  the  might  of  an  army  could  not  move  from  its  place,  our  Constitution  is 
so  nicely  poised  and  balanced  that  it  seems  to  sway  with  every  breath  of  opinion, 
yet  so  firmly  rooted  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  the  people,  that  the  wildest 
storms  of  treason  and  fanaticism  break  over  it  in  vain." — R.  C.  Witiilirop. 

"  A  divine  right  to  govern  ill,  is  an  absurdity  :  to  assert  it,  is  blasphemy.  Pre 
tensions  to  a  divine  right  have  been  generally  carried  highest  by  those  who  have 
had  the  least  claim  to  the  Divine  favor.  Liberty  is  to  the  collective  body  what 
health  is  to  every  individual  body.  Without  health,  no  pleasure  can  be  tasted 
by  man  ;  without  liberty,  no  happiness  can  be  enjoyed  by  society." — Bollnglroke, 

"  Which  is  the  most  perfect  popular  government  ?  '  That,'  said  Bias,  '  where 
the  laws  have  no  superior.'  '  That,'  said  Thales,  '  where  the  inhabitants  are 
neither  too  rich  nor  too  poor.'  '  That,'  said  Anacharsis,  '  where  virtue  is  hon 
ored  and  vice  detested.'  That  is  the  the  best  government,  which  desires  to  make 
the  people  happy,  and  knows  how  to  make  the  people  happy.  Neither  the  in 
clination  nor  the  knowledge  will  suffice  alone,  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  them 
together.  Pure  Democracy,  and  pure  Democracy  alone,  satisfies  the  former  con 
dition  of  this  great  problem.  That  the  governors  may  be  solicitous  only  for  the 
interests  of  the  governed,  it  is  necessary  that  the  interests  of  the  governors  and 
the  governed  should  be  the  same.  The  interests  of  the  subjects  and  rulers  never 
absolutely  coincide  till  the  subjects  themselves  become  the  rulers  ;  that  is,  till 
the  government  be  either  immediately  or  mediately  democratic." — Hacauiay. 

"  Our  own  country,  though  happily  exempt, — and  God  grant  that  it  may  long 
continue  so, — from  the  troubles  of  Europe,  is  not  exempt  from  the  influence  of 
the  causes  that  produce  them.  We  too  are  inspired,  and  agitated,  and  governed 
by  the  all-pervading,  all-inspiring,  all-agitating,  all-governing  spirit  of  the  age. 
What  do  I  say  ?  We  were  the  first  to  feel  and  act  upon  its  influence.  Our  revo 
lution  was  the  first  of  the  long  series  that  has  since  shaken  every  comer  of 
Europe  and  America.  Our  fathers  led  the  van  in  the  long  array  of  heroes,  rnar- 
tvrs,  and  confessors,  who  have  fought  and  fallen  under  the  banner  of  liberty. 
The  institutions  they  bequeathed  to  us,  and  under  which  we  are  living  in  peace 
and  happiness,  were  founded  on  the  principles  which  lie  at  the  bottom  of  the 
present  agitation  in  Europe.  We  have  realized  what  our  contemporaries  are 
laboring  to  attain.  Our  tranquillity  is  the  fruit  of  an  entire  acquiescence  in  the 
Bpirit  of  the  age.  We  have  reduced  the  action  of  government  within  narrower 
limits,  and  given  a  wider  scope  to  individual  liberty,  than  any  community  that 
ever  flourished  before. 


APPENDIX.  403 

"  We  live,  therefore,  in  an  age,  and  in  a  country,  where  positive  laws  and 
institutions  have  comparatively  but  little  direct  force.  But  human  nature  re 
mains  the  same.  The  passions  are  as  wild,  as  ardent,  as  ungovernable,  in  a 
republic,  as  in  a  despotism.  "VYhat  then  is  to  arrest  their  violence  ?  I  answer  in 
one  word,  Religion" — Edward  Everett. 

"  Let  no  one  accuse  me  of  seeing  wild  visions,  and  dreaming  impossible 
dreams.  I  am  only  stating  what  may  be  done,  and  what  will  be  done.  We 
may  most  shamefully  betray  the  trust  reposed  in  us — we  may  most  miserably 
defeat  the  fond  hopes  entertained  of  us.  We  may  become  the  scorn  of  tyrants 
and  the  jest  of  slaves.  From  our  fate,  oppression  may  assume  a  bolder  front  of 
insolence,  and  its  victims  sink  into  a  darker  despair. 

"  In  that  event,  how  unspeakable  will  be  our  disgrace — with  what  weight  of 
mountains  will  the  infamy  lie  upon  our  souls.  The  gulf  of  our  ruin  will  be  as 
deep  as  the  elevation  we  might  have  attained  is  high.  How  wilt  thou  fall  from 
heaven,  0  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning !  Our  beloved  country  with  ashes  for 
beauty,  the  golden  cord  of  our  Union  broken,  its  scattered  fragments  presenting 
every  form  of  misrule,  from  the  wildest  anarchy  to  the  most  ruthless  despotism, 
our  "  soil  drenched  with  fraternal  blood,"  the  life  of  man  stripped  of  its  grace 
and  dignity,  the  prizes  of  honor  gone,  and  virtue  divorced  from  half  its  encour 
agements  and  supports — these  are  gloomy  pictures,  which  I  would  not  invite 
your  imaginations  to  dwell  upon,  but  only  to  glance  at,  for  the  sake  of  the  warn 
ing  lessons  we  may  draw  from  them. 

"  Kemember,  that  we  can  have  none  of  those  consolations  which  sustain  the 
patriot  who  mourns  over  the  undeserved  misfortunes  of  his  country.  Our  Rome 
cannot  fall  and  we  be  innocent.  Ko  conqueror  will  chain  us  to  the  car  of  his 
triumph — no  countless  swarm  of  Huns  and  Goths  will  bury  the  memorials  and 
trophies  of  civilized  life,  beneath  a  living  tide  of  barbarism.  Our  own  selfish 
ness,  our  own  neglect,  our  own  passions,  and  our  own  vices,  will  furnish  the 
elements  of  our  destruction.  With  our  own  hands  we  shall  tear  down  the  stately 
edifice  of  our  glory.  We  shall  die  by  self-inflicted  wounds." — G-.  S.  Billiard. 

"  We  less  need  new  laws,  new  institutions,  or  new  powers,  than  we  need  on 
all  occasions,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  places,  the  requisite  intelligence  concerning 
the  true  spirit  of  our  present  ones  ;  the  high  moral  courage  under  every  hazard, 
and  against  every  offender,  to  execute  with  fidelity  the  authority  already  pos 
sessed  ;  and  the  manly  independence  to  abandon  all  supineness,  irresolution, 
vacillation,  and  time-serving  pusillanimity,  and  enforce  our  present  mild  system 
with  that  uniformity  and  steady  vigor  throughout,  which  alone  can  supply  the 
place  of  the  greater  severity  of  less  free  institutions. 

"  To  arm  and  encourage  us  in  renewed  efforts  to  accomplish  every  thing  on 
this  subject  which  is  desirable,  our  history  constantly  points  her  finger  to  a  most 
efficient  resource,  and  indeed  to  the  only  elixir,  to  secure  a  long  life  to  any  popu 
lar  government,  in  increased  attention  to  useful  education  and  sound  morals, 


404  A  VOICE  TO  AMERICA. 

with,  the  wise  description  of  equal  measures  and  just  practices  they  inculcate  on 
every  leaf  of  recorded  time.  May  we  not  all  profit  by  the  vehement  exhortation 
of  Cicero  to  Atticus  :  'If  you  are  asleep,  awake  ;  if  you  are  standing,  move  ;  if 
you  are  moving,  run ;  if  you  are  running,  fly  !' 

"All  these  considerations  warn  us — the  gravestones  of  almost  every  former 
republic  warn  us — that  a  high  standard  of  moral  rectitude,  as  well  as  of  intelli 
gence,  is  quite  as  indispensable  to  communities,  in  their  public  doings,  as  to 
individuals,  if  they  would  escape  from  either  degeneracy  or  disgrace." — Levi 
Woodbury. 

"  The  prosperity  of  the  United  States  is  the  source  of  the  most  serious  dangers 
that  threaten  them,  since  it  tends  to  create  in  some  of  the  confederate  states  that 
over-excitement  which  accompanies  a  rapid  increase  of  fortune ;  and  to  awaken 
in  others  those  feelings  of  envy,  mistrust,  and  regret,  which  usually  attend  upon 
the  loss  of  it.  Yet  the  Americans  of  the  United  States  must  inevitably  become 
one  of  the  greatest  nations  in  the  world.  The  continent  which  they  inhabit  is 
their  dominion." — De  Tocqueville. 


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